Research for Equity and Power (REP)

Research for Equity and Power (REP) is a project led by a partnership between Homewood Children's Village and the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. The REP Project has been actively engaging youth and adult Homewood residents since July 2019 to explore resident’s definitions of civic engagement, agency, and activism, particularly around the issue of equitable development and resident-driven community revitalization. We are working with residents to understand the capacity residents have to influence upcoming and ongoing changes to their community and strengthen Homewood residents’ ability to influence neighborhood change. The project is also informed by a resident-led Community Advisory Board.

We held a series of community conversations with 30 youth and adult residents in Homewood during the summer of 2019, and through those conversations we created an Equitable Development Playbook (see link below). We have been sharing the playbook virtually since the pandemic started (see below for links to some of our presentations), and hope to hold a Citizen Training Academy in Homewood once it is safe to meet in person.

Project Team


Mary L. Ohmer Co-Principle Investigator mlo51@pitt.edu	Shannah Tharp-Gilliam Co-Principle Investigator sgilliam@hcvpgh.org	Donnell Pearl Community Researcher dop25@pitt.edu