"Communities of Care" Project led by Profs. Wolcott, Rembis, and Freudenheim
Published December 13, 2023
Co-investigators on the grant from the Mellon Foundation are, from left, Jo L. Freudenheim, Victoria Wolcott and Michael Rembis. Photo: Douglas Levere
Congratulations, Prof. Victoria Wolcott, Prof. Jo Freudenheim, and Prof. Michael Rembis, co-PIs on a $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation!
The grant will fund the Communities of Care project - an interdisciplinary effort being led by the Gender Institute and UB’s Center for Disability Studies.
The Communities of Care project derives inspiration from an existing, though informal, “communities of care” social strategy. This concept recognizes that care is delivered not only by the health care system, but additionally through significant community-level support systems within families, among friends, throughout neighborhoods, and other networks. In this context, the project focuses on those with disabilities and caregivers, who are frequently women of color.
Communities of Care will combine the expertise of UB’s Center for Disability Studies (CDS) and the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender (Gender Institute) to develop elements both within the university and throughout the larger community. With Buffalo as the study’s nucleus, the project will explore these local care networks to identify the everyday ways that low-income, racialized and disabled people balance life, work and other responsibilities while navigating health care options when critical infrastructure and resources are otherwise lacking.
Read more in UBNow