College of Law students in the Community Empowerment Law Project worked with Keokuk officials to map the existing system for addressing child neglect in the community, and to create a local advocacy strategy to increase system transparency.

Students in the course Translation Workshop and Independent Study student Vanessa Guzman in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese translated documents into Spanish for Webster City and the Kendall Young Library in order to serve the community's growing Hispanic population.

Graduate students in the School of Social Work conducted a study to better understand the pervasiveness, causes, and consequences of housing insecurity in Keokuk. 

Students in the Department of Rhetoric class Public Policy and Persuasion developed policy briefings for Keokuk community partners, with the broad goal of helping to ensure safe, sanitary, and secure housing options for Keokuk residents. 

In a report to the the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), a student in the Geographical & Sustainability Studies: Senior Project Seminar class completed an independent project that evaluated spatial relationships between Brownfields sites and public school buildings, using free and reduced lunch rates as an indicator of vulnerability.  

Urban and Regional Planning students examined trends of income inequality in the Iowa City metropolitan area and developed a plan identifying income inequality trends in Iowa City, case studies of similar areas, and strategies for supporting affordable housing in the community; poster displaying results and recommendations; and presentation displaying results and recommendations.

Students from the college of Social Work conducted a project that was focused on several programs within the Sioux City area that were seeking to improve their services for and communications with members of the population that are from traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed groups.

Students from the Urban and Regional Planning Department completed a housing plan for Sioux City, IA with the main goal of coordinating reinvestment in distressed areas.

Graduate students in Organization and Community Practice worked in groups to put their social work training into practice. Students identified a social justice community issue to investigate and conducted a needs and strengths assessment using data on the community, key informant interviews of different stakeholders, and other sources as necessary.

Students in the School of Planning and Public Affairs partnered with the City of Dubuque and the Dubuque Community School District (DCSD) to study the relationship between housing policy, neighborhoods, and elementary school student achievement.

Students researched who is in poverty and where they lived in Dubuque, IA; identified barriers to getting out of poverty; and developed recommendations for best practices in anti-poverty initiatives.

One of the cornerstones of sustainability is social/cultural vibrancy. After the City of Dubuque adopted its Sustainable Dubuque plan, city leaders wanted to explore poverty so sustainable initiatives could be provided that addressed the needs of the poor in an informed and efficient manner.