In partnership with the Niagara Region, a team of Brock University researchers evaluated the impact of the Niagara Prosperity Initiative (NPI), a program established in 2008 to provide annual investments to poverty reduction and prevention activities. Brock’s Social Justice Research Institute provided pivotal support by initiating the partnership, drawing faculty members together, and facilitating the project development and grant application process. The project was funded by $470,000 from the Government of Ontario’s Local Poverty Reduction Fund (LPRF) and was led by SJRI affiliates and colleagues who have shared expertise in the methods and ethics of community program evaluation and a shared commitment to research that contributes to social justice in Niagara. When asked about the intended outcomes of this collaborative work, Dr. Ciuffetelli Parker noted, “The greater Niagara Region has changed since the last regional report on poverty in 2011. Our team’s purpose is to provide an up-to-date analysis of poverty in Niagara, to evaluate the poverty reduction work of the Niagara Prosperity Initiative and the many local projects it has funded, and to make recommendations for this important work going forward.”

Read more about this research collaboration in the Brock News, Niagara This Week, and on the project website.