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Community Change

(Research projects are listed alphabetically by last name of principal or lead investigator under the primary research focus.)



Edgehill Gentrification Mitigation Project

James Fraser, Principal Investigator; Doug Perkins, Laurie Hauber, Csilla Weninger, Jill Robinson and two graduate classes

Urban areas in the United States have undergone massive transformation in the last century. The latest wave in this transformation has entailed the revitalization of formerly distressed urban areas, both in terms of reviving economic activity in central business districts, as well as redeveloping distressed residential areas in the urban core. These changes have affected the lives of many who rely on and utilize urban spaces for residence, employment, business or leisure. Given the multiplicity of stakes, and the complexity of processes involved in urban revitalization, investigating how social, economic and physical aspects work jointly to effect the direction of development is necessary to understand their impact on human life. This study looks at the neighborhood of Edgehill in Nashville, Tennessee, which has experienced increased economic investment and also has undergone documented changes with regard to the demographic and socioeconomic make-up of its population. The goal of the study is to understand how a particular constellation of physical/spatial attributes, local and federal policies, and social and economic capital impact the direction and forms of development in this neighborhood. The study involves the collection and analysis of census data and reports on social and economic development, as well as interviews with various groups involved in and/or affected by revitalization. It also is the explicit goal of the study to link and situate findings about the neighborhood within the larger context of urban redevelopment in the city of Nashville and in Tennessee, as well as in the United States.
Partners: Organized Neighbors of Edgehill, Vanderbilt Community and Economic Development Law Clinic



Nashville Immigrant Community Assessment

Doug Perkins, Co-Investigator

Doug Perkins was a co-investigator of the 2002-2003 Nashville Immigrant Community Assessment, a historic and interdisciplinary collaboration among Nashville’s major universities, immigrant and refugee community representatives, local social service providers, and the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Some 18 percent of Nashville residents are foreign-born, and this community has experienced a tripling of foreign-born residents from 1990 to 2000, particularly from Mexico, other Latin-American and Caribbean countries, the Middle East, Somalia and Southeast Asia. The final report helped several Metro agencies, Nashville Task Force on Refugees and Immigrants, the Human Relations Commission and other groups assist local international communities.
Funding: Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Partners: Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County



South Nashville Community Assessment Demonstration Project

Doug Perkins, Lynette Jacobs-Priebe and two Vanderbilt service-learning classes

By 2003, an assessment of problems, needs and assets in Nashville's most diverse and fastest-changing area had not been done in 16 years. This project demonstrated to this and other neighborhood and service organizations that they can conduct their own needs assessment/asset mapping projects in the future and how to do so. Its aim was to help local nonprofits and Metro government plan their services more effectively, efficiently and responsively, and also to apply for funding to address the identified needs. Identifying the strengths of the community also will help local organizations and residents to affirm, celebrate, protect and build on what is good about the neighborhood. Surveys of residents and businesses, and systematic environmental assessments were conducted. Results and recommendations were reported to all partner organizations and local residents at a community-wide forum and in a 76-page report.
Funding: Corporation for National and Community Service
Partners: South Nashville Family Resource Center; Woodbine Community Organization; Woodbine, Glencliff and Radnor Neighborhood Associations: Metro Nashville Health Department; Neighborhoods Resources Center

Read the report: South Nashville Community Needs and Assets Assessment Final Report



New SPECs: Shifting the Paradigm in Health and Human Services

Isaac Prilleltensky, Doug Perkins, Kimberly Bess, Scot Evans, Courte Voorhees, Leslie Collins, Patricia Conway, Diana McCown and Carrie Hanlin

This three-year action research project developed and promoted a new approach based on strengths, prevention, empowerment and changing community conditions – hence, the acronym SPECs – for organizations providing health and human services. The project was a partnership among five local health and human services organizations. It effected concrete changes within its first year of implementation, such as the development of new strategic plans for various partners, new programs, revised mission statements, innovative funding proposals, and new participatory structures within each agency.
Funding: United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
Partners: United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, Oasis Center, Martha O'Bryan Center, United Neighborhood Health Services, Bethlehem Center



Community Data Archive

Paul Speer, Principal Investigator

This research developed an integrated, longitudinal, multi-dimensional data system for Nashville and Davidson County. This system is designed for both scholarly and public policy purposes. The ability to study the confluence of multiple neighborhood characteristics, at different geographic scales, over time, offers tremendous power to understand community dynamics and to generate knowledge to affect these dynamics.
Funding: Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies



Exploring Organizational Culture and Change in a State Social Service Organization

Emily Thaden, Lynette Jacobs-Priebe, Scot Evans and Jill Robinson

This study used qualitative and quantitative data from the Vision Implementation Project, which was led by Pearl Sims and Isaac Prilleltensky to facilitate change in a state social service organization, to (1) understand employee attrition; (2) explore regulatory and libratory organizational narratives espoused by welfare workers; and (3) create a model of organizational factors that explicated organizational stagnation and change since the passage of the 1996 welfare reform.



Napier Youth Photovoice Project

Emily Thaden, Principal Investigator; Jill Robinson, Josh Bazuin and Emanuel Gunn

Photovoice is an intervention that aims to bring about positive social change for marginalized communities through providing them with photographic training with which they can advocate and express themselves. Twelve 6th-through-8th graders who live in or around the J.C. Napier Homes – one of the oldest public housing developments in Nashville – participated in a 10-week photovoice program entitled “Littles” Speaking Big About Social Issues. Approximately 75 percent of residents live below the poverty line, and an increase in violent crime has been documented over recent years, which community members associate with an influx of residents and gangs from HOPE VI displacement. Most of the youth are bused to a middle school outside their neighborhood and have a parent who is incarcerated. The goals of the project are: (1) to empower youth by training them in documentary photography and systemic thinking; (2) to provide an outlet to express ideas that they may not express verbally; and (3) to increase their sense of agency by facilitating opportunities for them to communicate needed social change to the broader Nashville community. The youth’s social change message and photography were exhibited at the Nashville Civic Design Center during the summer of 2008. More than 200 community members, including Mayor Karl Dean, attended. The project also was featured on WPLN and the story was syndicated nationally.
Funding: Gannet Foundation; Center for Community Studies; Sharon Shields; Gresham, Smith and Partners
Partners: Wolf Camera; Big Brother Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee; Nashville Civic Design Center; Center for Community Studies; Gresham, Smith and Partners

Read more about this research project