The Muskegon Heights Coalition for Community Development (CCD), the Muskegon Heights Neighborhood Association Council (MHNAC), and the GVSU Social Science Lab (SSL) partnered in 2021 to develop the Citizen Social Science program. This training program is designed to be implemented by residents in their own community, equipping local citizens to tell data-informed stories about their needs and goals. Trainings cover fundamentals of qualitative and quantitative research development, as well as data collection and analysis techniques.

Project goals include:

• Systematically assessing community members' development priorities and visions for progress.
• Representing the voices of Muskegon Heights community members in data-driven policy proposals.
• Elevating Muskegon Heights' capacity to compete for community development funding.

This program is supported by the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, Trinity Health's Community Grants Program, and a Health Equity Council grant from the State of Michigan.

For more information on the Social Science Lab's Citizen Social Science training, please contact Dr. Anna Hammersmith, [email protected].