More CSEM News
What Are W-S Taxpayers Receiving From $700,000 in Affordable Housing Research? (Part 2)
The Chronicle
This is the second of a two-part series that started last week. To see the first part, go to What are taxpayers receiving from the City of Winston-Salem’s affordable housing research costing almost $700,000?
Production begins for CSEM's new documentary on micro-transit
CSEM News
In November 2023 Emmy-award winning filmmaker Matt Zodrow flew to North Carolina to start production of CSEM's latest documentary film (working title: Momentum). The film focuses on the remarkable turnaround in public transit, that saw the small city of Wilson transform from traditional city buses to an Uber-like van system, run by a private company known as Via. CSEM Director Craig Richardson is serving as executive producer for the film. The film will include interviews of the city manager, city council members, area employers as well as ordinary bus riders to investigate how a seemingly conservative town in eastern North Carolina became an innovative change agent. Riders are reporting better access to employers, doctors and grocery stores, with rides that cost a fixed $2.50. Richardson hopes the film will inspire cities like Winston-Salem to take a closer look at the long commutes faced by current bus riders and be open to new and innovative ways to move people across the city. The film is expected to wrap by late summer 2024 and is supported by funds from The John William Pope Foundation.
CSEM director takes part in national panel confronting inequities in education
CSEM News
On July 18th, CSEM Director Craig Richardson took part in a panel in Portland, Oregon, on the award-winning documentary film RIGGED (riggeddocumentary.com). RIGGED lays bare a U.S. higher education culture in which wealth and influence remain the predominant values. CSEM is featured in the film as one of the nation’s innovators in education, along with campus faculty who connect with students in ways that inspire them to succeed after college.
CSEM Director has summer stint at American Institute of Economic Research in Massachusetts
CSEM News
Craig Richardson was invited to participate as a Summer Research Fellow in June, working with dozens of economists at the Massachusetts-based think tank in western part of the state. Richardson interacted with economists from around the country as well as graduate students in economics and philosophy. He is no stranger to AIER, having served as a summer research fellow from 2005-2014, and is now a frequent contributor to AIER's website, where he publishes short and accessible articles. Many of these articles focus on work by CSEM, and enjoy the wide readership around the world. Some of his recent articles include highlighting CSEM's work on the disincentives from the social welfare programs, micro-transit, and affordable housing. Richardson also held a workshop seminar for the AIER faculty and students, where he outlined CSEM's research on so called "disincentive deserts" in the welfare system that discourage work. More of Richardson's articles can be seen at American Institute for Economic Research.
New published research by CSEM demonstrates link between increased banking regulations and falling property values in East Winston
CSEM News
Gentrification has not been the most pressing problem in the eastern side of Winston-Salem, with largely Black and Hispanic households with modest incomes. CSEM research shows that on the contrary, property values between 2010 to 2021 have fallen by as much as 40 percent or more, which is primarily comprised of Black and Hispanic households. Craig Richardson and Zach Blizard (formerly a researcher at CSEM) show a first-ever link between the collapse of lending at the lower end of the market and the fall in property values. East Winston has many homes valued at less than $100,000, and 2010 federal banking regulations (known as the Dodd-Frank Act) increased the fixed cost of issuing all loans regardless of size. As a result, many lending institutions stopped offering so-called "small dollar mortgages," resulting in mostly all-cash buyers being left in the market. With fewer buyers, the authors hypothesized, the prices for housing would fall. Their statistical analysis finds that to be the case, after controlling for other variables. Their work has just been published online in the prestigious peer-reviewed economics journal, Public Choice, this summer.
Federal Reserve prominently cites CSEM affordable housing research in latest 2022 report
CSEM News
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a December 2022 report titled "Small-Dollar Mortgage Lending in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware" in an attempt to discover the reasons for the rapid decline in mortgages aimed at families who want to purchase inexpensive, or "small dollar" homes, typically $100,000 or less. In the report, the authors explain the reason, using the research of a joint New America/CSEM report issued last year on the same subject, titled The Lending Hole at the Bottom of the Homeownership Market.
New WSSU Student Research Fellows selected to partner with CSEM team
CSEM News
In its five years, the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) has stressed student involvement, including more than 25 students in its projects. The learning is a two-way-street, with CSEM Faculty Fellows learning almost as much from our students, often from their lived experiences.
WSSU Center for the Study of Economic Mobility selected for prestigious Fair Housing Breaking Barriers Award
CSEM News
What began as a "startling" revelation to Winston-Salem State University economics professor Craig Richardson five years ago has developed into a community-changing program that has been selected for one of Winston-Salem's most prestigious community awards.
CSEM director receives award, honor
CSEM News
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, Winston-Salem State University faculty and top administrators gathered for the annual Faculty Award and Sponsored Programs Banquet.
Innovating Our Way Up: New Strategies to Fight Poverty
Profectus
CSEM Director Craig Richardson highlighted in national publication on CSEM's innovative research
Accessing FHA Mortgage Loans in North Carolina
New America
CSEM Researcher Zach Blizard partners with New America team on "Accessing FHA Loans in NC."
Dr. Monica D. Guillory wins an award
CSEM News
Dr. Monica D. Guillory presented a paper at the 2022 Small Business Institute (SBI) conference. The mission of the Small Business Institute® is to be the premier provider of professional development for those engaged in experiential student team consulting and related entrepreneurship education, research, and activities.
County commissioner’s work informed by loss to gun violence
The Chronicle
Forsyth County Commissioner Tonya McDaniel carries her son Trayvon’s legacy as she combats gun violence. Trayvon passed away 11 years ago when he was 22 to gun violence in a bizarre incident. “I’ll never really know what it was really all about,” McDaniel said. “I do know, I want to do my part to reduce gun violence and try to save some families from the grief my family carries.”
We need more innovative transportation programs like this one
The Chronicle
Three years ago, Courtney James and her husband, Gregory, drafted a plan for a business that would help fill the gap for workers who depend on the city’s inadequate bus system, the Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA), to get to their jobs.
John Railey: A needed crafter of affordable housing
Winston-Salem Journal
In August, the Winston-Salem City Council voted to pay a New Orleans nonprofit, HousingNOLA, $322,000 to craft an action plan for greatly increasing our city’s inventory of affordable housing.
County commissioner knows firsthand the value of the homeownership program
The Chronicle
Forsyth County Commissioner Tonya McDaniel knows the value of the county's homeownership program firsthand: In 2010, she bought her home through it. "It's a great program," McDaniel said recently.
CSEM and New America participate in national panel on little understood housing issue
CSEM News
A co-sponsored event by New America and CSEM led with some of the startling findings from our joint report on the collapse of real estate values in East Winston. Other participants included The Wall Street Journal, Pew Charitable Trust, Urban Institute, Piedmont Federal Savings Bank and Hurry Home. Panelists discussed what’s happened to the small mortgage market, and how it could be affecting our most impoverished neighborhoods in terms of stagnating property values. Solutions to this are also addressed.
Wage this fight like the next bullet has your name on it
The Chronicle
"The fight against gun violence must be an ongoing one," Velma Terry told me the other day. Hers is a terrible wisdom. On Valentine's Day 2021, the body of her 35-year-old son, Te'Ore, was found in Winston-Salem. He'd been fatally shot. In the year and a half since, Terry has spoken out against gun violence at numerous local rallies.
John Railey: Keep up momentum on transportation reform
Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem and Forsyth County are making progress with public transportation challenges. The trick is how to keep that progress going.
Food entrepreneurs take off from the Enterprise Center
Winston-Salem Chronicle
For the past four years, working right through the pandemic, the Shared-Use Kitchen at the Enterprise Center has been helping food businesses grow, adding to the East Winston economy and beyond. Against the backdrop of the highly competitive, costly food-service field, the participants in this program, all people of color, rent space for $500 a month, giving them a jumpstart to their dreams.
CSEM-loaded student charges ahead
The Chronicle
Dustin Sellers, who grew up in modest means in Anson County, is now determined to help minority students like himself, applying the life lessons he learned in high school, at Winston-Salem State University, and at a program supported by WSSU’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM).
CSEM rides to transportation solutions with Forsyth Tech
The Chronicle
If you listened closely in a conference room at Forsyth Technical Community College recently, you could almost hear the sound of a logjam breaking. That logjam is the longstanding problem of public transportation, which touches on almost every issue of upward economic mobility, including education. Local elected officials have been slow to confront the issue.
Experiencing a bit of what released offenders go through
The Chronicle
I've just been released from prison. Chaos and frustration consume my days as I wait in long lines to get a state identification card, see my probation officer and try to find work, the whole time relying on an inefficient public transportation system to get around. And if I don't make it back to my halfway house by curfew, I face a return to prison.
Forsyth needs a center for released offenders
Winston-Salem Journal
In their first days out of prison, released offenders in Forsyth County struggle to get from one location to another for crucial check-ins on issues ranging from employment to drug treatment. That complex, often frustrating process is aggravated by our poor system of public transportation.
Building a community within a community
Winston-Salem Journal
Brittany Broadway has yet to hit her 32nd birthday, but she has already had a lifetime of lived experience. She had her daughter, Rihanna, when she was 16. She’s been almost homeless and has lived in the Skyline housing project, a neighborhood where gunshots are common.
Fight against costly gun violence must start early
The Chronicle
Two related goals have developed in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s increasingly coordinated confrontation with gun violence: start early with youth, and address economic concerns tied to gun violence.
Put yourself in the shoes of released offenders
Winston-Salem Journal
Getting out of prison is hard and frustrating. Every complex turn is challenging and can lead to failure — a return to prison that is costly in financial and human terms.
Creating a living space for women, children to flourish
The Chronicle
Rasheeda Shankle, respected for the local nonprofit she started to help women and children break economic barriers, is transforming another dream to reality: a communal living development where women and children can live and work together to achieve their own dreams and overcome poverty.
CSEM takes part in festival highlighting city’s best innovators
CSEM News
Winston-Salem is increasingly known as a city revitalizing with innovative initiatives, from biotech to music to education. The CSEM team is proud to be a bedrock of that through its groundbreaking research.
Confronting a crisis through research, collective hope
The Chronicle
A few years ago, Chancellor Elwood Robinson of Winston-Salem State University was jarred by a figure he came across in his reading: Nationwide, Forsyth County was third from the bottom in upward economic mobility. “If you were born into poverty, it was difficult to escape,” Robinson said recently.
WSSU, other HBCUs are rolling steady
The Chronicle
A recent front-page story in the New York Times confirmed what’s long been known on the WSSU campus: There’s a lot to like about HBCUs.
How can we increase workforce housing?
Winston-Salem Journal
Have you noticed how shortages of workers are everywhere, from restaurants’ reduced hours to longer checkout lines at shopping outlets?
CSEM/New America’s long-awaited report released to the public
CSEM News
“The Lending Hole at the Bottom of the Market: Why Millions of Homebuyers Can’t Get Small Mortgages” is a long awaited report that has been released after a year long research effort by a CSEM/New America team. It combines rigorous data analysis with qualitative interviews to highlight a little understood problem affecting the American dream.
Residents speak at a panel on gun violence
The Winston-Salem Journal
At a “Strategy-Focused Town Hall Discussion on Gun Violence” at the Carl Russell Community Center on Carver School Road in Winston-Salem, audience members spoke out on several issues.
Struggles are real’ for released offenders – and so are the chances for success
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
“The struggles are real,” an audience member at a recent statewide conference on reentry said of the challenges that released offenders and those who work with them face.
Atkins CDC sets model for scaling up workforce housing
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
Carol Davis and Virginia Hardesty walked down Hardesty Lane, just off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Winston-Salem. The street had once sagged, but is now graced by several new houses of first-time homebuyers, thanks to the efforts of Davis and Hardesty.
Kernersville development is blueprint for scaling up workforce housing
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
In the early 2000s, Deidris Reynolds, a hospital secretary, was living in an apartment in southern Winston-Salem. Crime was rampant. She wanted to buy her first home in a safe neighborhood for her three young boys.
Don Flow ready to join movement to scale-up affordable housing
The Winston-Salem Chronicle
Don Flow knows a bit about scaling up operations, having helped expand his family business to 44 automotive dealerships spread across ten cities. He also has a passion for meeting a looming crisis for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, that of creating thousands of units of affordable, or workforce, housing over the next decade.
Local Lions align with CSEM in new push to help youth
The Winston-Salem Journal
Ten years ago, the Center for Community Safety and its partners utilized Lions Quest as a positive youth development program called “Students Taking Action and Reaching Success,” (STARS), at several middle schools across the district.
Her Field of Dreams could help many
The Winston-Salem Journal
I’s a small vacant lot off Patterson Avenue now. But Rasheeda Shankle envisions so much more there. She sees a small dwelling for communal living, helping single-parent mothers raise their children and start climbing the economic ladder, the start of more such houses in the city.
CSEM-group heads into Spring with cool push for agricultural equity program
Yes Weekly
Island CultureZ is supported by Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) as part of its emphasis on health and wellness being key to rising from poverty.
CSEM dances with the stars with new ballet initiative
Yes Weekly
Triad International Ballet, a new professional ballet company serving the Triad, is offering ballet classes to elementary and high school students. The ballet company has teamed up with The Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) at Winston-Salem State University, My Brothers’ and Sisters’ Keeper in Winston-Salem.
CSEM ready to roll out its film on Forsyth County’s successful homeownership program
The Winston-Salem Journal
A new documentary film from Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), “Home Stretch,” details that program, profiling two clients.
CSEM helped start this business that keeps community conversations going
The Chronicle
Rashad Little started CYK in 2016 with the help of the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM). Little was one of the first to use CSEM’s Community Acceleration Research Track, started and administered by CSEM Associate Director Alvin Atkinson.
Early financial literacy is right way to go
The Winston-Salem Journal
At Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), the community partners who work together to increase homeownership, a bedrock of wealth-building, constantly tell us about the importance of financial literacy.
CSEM-aligned nonprofit strengths push in new way
The Chronicle
Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, its longstanding commitment to under-resourced communities fire-forged and strengthened by the pandemic, is roaring ahead with new energy.
Ballet company, CSEM align on effort to enhance arts as economic driver in East Winston
The Chronicle
Somewhere out there in East Winston is a girl or boy with dreams of making it on the ballet stage. There are older adults who may be in need of the healing effects of ballet. A new effort plans to help them all – and will enhance existing efforts to make the arts an economic driver in East Winston.
Broken-hearted mom, CSEM join others in fight against gun violence
The Winston-Salem Journal
Velma Terry will never love Valentine’s Day again. One year ago today, her son, 35-year-old Te’ore Eugene Terry, was found fatally shot in a Coliseum Drive parking lot.
CSEM, New America offer solutions to help homebuyers secure American Dream
WRAL.com
Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility Director Craig Richardson, who helped lead his organization’s mortgage research with New America
Craig Richardson selected as the 2021-22 Faculty Affiliate for CSFE
CSEM News
CSEM Director Craig Richardson has been selected as the 2021-22 Faculty Affiliate of the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise (CSFE) at Western Carolina University.
Rising with CSEM-honed talent
Yes Weekly
Tyler Chisolm, who came from modest means in the small town of Henderson, never imagined he would get to Duke University graduate school. What he learned at Winston-Salem State University and its Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) helped him rise against odds that may have been against him.
Starting early with financial literacy rocks at Project M.O.O.R.E.
The Chronicle
David Moore, who has seen the effects of generational poverty in East Winston close up, is determined to reverse it. His latest step is an initiative that gives elementary and-middle school girls an introduction to financial literacy.
CSEM supports the fight against costly gun violence
Triad City Beat
For families living in East Winston and other areas of the city, the stress of gun violence inhibits their ability to do their best at work and school. “You cannot think about anything you want to do unless you feel safe,” said Alvin Atkinson, the associate director of Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, a participant in the community fight against violence.
CSEM-supported group forms talent agency to support Winston-Salem arts
The Chronicle
In 2010, Stephanie Hurt started the Royal Curtain Drama Guild (RCDG) with a realization: There is just as much acting talent in East Winston as there is in the rest of the city, and the arts can be a significant economic driver in East Winston, just as it is in the rest of the city.
CSEM supports new group in helping all of Winston-Salem Rise
The Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem RISE began in June 2020, the brainchild of local leaders Paula McCoy, the executive director of the Partnership for Prosperity, and Bill McLain, the executive director of GIDE, and others. "This is not top-down led organization," McCoy said. "This is grassroots-up."
New superintendent shares CSEM’s commitment to school equity
The Winston-Salem Journal
Tricia McManus’s experience working for a Florida school system prepared her to be superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. McManus shares CSEM’s emphasis on data-based research to evaluate the efficacy of programs and, if necessary, improve them.
Buses must get them to the place where dreams are built
The Chronicle
Students living on the Wake Forest, Salem and Winston-Salem State University campuses easily walk to their classes. Forsyth Technical Community College students don’t have that luxury. Some drive in, or have loved ones drive them in. Others rely on Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) buses.
CSEM analysis shows HBCUs enhance economic mobility
WRAL
What is one of the best ways for someone from a low-income family to climb the economic ladder and achieve higher social and economic mobility?
DSS head, working with CSEM and other partners, paved path for future collaboration
The Winston-Salem Journal
Victor Isler has a mantra: “There is nothing more important than a community that decides what it cares about.”
Winston-Salem could benefit from ridesharing services other cities are offering
The Chronicle
Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) has documented the challenges with its research findings, including the fact that riders who use the buses to get to work spend an average of 12 hours a week on buses.
WFDD conducts in-depth interview with CSEM on their housing report
WFDD
CSEM Research Manager Zach Blizard and Director Craig Richardson were recently interviewed by WFDD’s David Ford about their research into the barriers for home ownership in East Winston.
Innovative ‘Do School’ brings collaboration to raising economic mobility
The Chronicle
Jerry Anderson’s new initiative ties to “Our Place, Our Space,” a move he helps lead to spur economic development in East Winston and surrounding areas.
How Dodd-Frank locks out the least affluent homebuyers
Bloomberg
CSEM’s research with New America is receiving national attention from an award-winning op-ed columnist in the Washington Post and Bloomberg.
The lending hole at the bottom of the market in East Winston
The Winston-Salem Journal
New research from the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) at Winston-Salem State University, and the Washington, D.C., think tank New America, finds that something else may be keeping East Winston from bouncing back.
Saving Children from Gun Violence
The Winston-Salem Journal
Local gun violence here and nationwide, especially among youth, has underscored the need for a holistic approach to confronting it.
Curbing the human and financial costs of gun violence
The Chronicle
Project M.O.O.R.E and CSEM realize that gun violence, in addition to its heavy human costs, also has heavy financial costs.
CSEM director, Western North Carolina colleague unite on innovative strategies
CSEM News
CSEM Director Craig Richardson and Ed Lopez work in different areas of the state but are confronting similar challenges with innovative techniques.
CSEM debuts nation’s first Social Benefits Calculator in conjunction with Forsyth Futures
CSEM News
The calculator will help recipients, employers and policy makers better navigate the maze of social benefits such as food stamps (SNAP), housing and child care assistance.
John Railey: Fight gun violence like it's at your door
The Winston-Salem Journal
There have been 24 homicides in Winston-Salem this year, including one man who died of gunfire last week, and more than 100 reported shootings.
Re-entry is the bedrock of CSEM work
The Chronicle
One goal of CSEM is making the invisible visible, encouraging the blossoming of talent in economic development in Winston-Salem.
Helping the Community Helps Your University: New and Replicable Ways Two University Centers are Impacting Their Communities
CSEM News
CSEM Director Craig Richardson has been invited to share the work of CSEM together with the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise (CSFE) at Western Carolina University- which is being hosted by the American Council of Education (ACE) and live-streamed nationally to all its members as well as the public.
CSEM brings research help to East Winston initiative
The Chronicle
The Castle Heights Neighborhood Association, which has long worked for better conditions for its residents, is stepping up its game through a collaboration with the poverty-fighting Partnership for Prosperity (P4P). The initiative has tapped Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) as its research partner.
CSEM director unveils groundbreaking research on homeownership program
CSEM News
When CSEM Director Craig Richardson, intrigued by thousands of pages of documents, approached Forsyth Economic Developer Dan Kornelis about doing a study of the county’s homeownership program, Kornelis welcomed the chance...
Working toward healthy food for all
Triad City Beat
For many, summertime means easy access to fresh tomatoes, peaches, squash, string beans, cucumbers, butterbeans, watermelons and other goodies. For others, including those living in urban food deserts, access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a luxury.
CSEM research shows leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods part of economic rise
The Chronicle
Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) has long recognized the relationship between crime and upward economic mobility, and is confronting the issues with its partner groups and its research.
Communal living housing can raise economic hopes
The Winston-Salem Journal
I saw how the community’s living conditions forced people to make tough choices, to sometimes live and behave unethically
CSEM-supported program is turning Lives around, one cut at a time
The Chronicle
Donald Weaks teaches barbering to Shica Shell as she cuts her son Jayden's hair.
CSEM-supported group brings the power of art to youth
The Chronicle
Royal Curtain Drama Guild Director Stephanie Hurt and her son, guild choreographer Joel Hurt, work with youth in a Freedom School at Calvary Hill Church of Greater Deliverance.
Gun violence is a big barrier to economic mobility
The Winston-Salem Journal
Each new gun injury and death makes the point all the more painfully clear...
Graduate of CSEM-supported program improves her community
The Chronicle
Kimberlee McNeil wakes up every morning thinking of how she might bring economic improvement to her East Winston neighborhood, Castle Heights.
As pandemic clears, CSEM-supported groups weigh lessons
The Chronicle
They dug in and worked all the harder, seeing the inequities they had long battled aggravated by COVID-19.
Craig J. Richardson: The minimum wage paradox
The Winston-Salem Journal
The tool, which we call the Social Benefits Calculator, enables anyone to go online and experience for themselves what it is like to be receiving social benefits and experience a monthly wage increase.
CSEM research on first-time homebuyers’ program highlighted on local NPR radio station
WFDD
Newly released data show that a long-time program that helps Black Forsyth County renters become homeowners is bearing fruit.
CSEM-supported group confronts terrible tide of gun violence
The Winston-Salem Journal
Te'ore Terry comes to his mother in dreams. Three months after he was fatally shot in Winston-Salem, on Valentine's Day...
CSEM-supported group underscores new mode of community mobilization
The Chronicle
Michael Banner and Marcus Hill have been chipping away at food insecurity in East Winston, forming a nonprofit, Island CultureZ, to increase land and market access for economically marginalized communities...
Against backdrop of “rigged” education systems, WSSU stands out
The Chronicle
The documentary spotlights Winston-Salem State University as one of just three colleges nationwide whose innovative efforts are reversing education inequities.
CSEM research keeps this millennial in Winston-Salem
The Winston-Salem Journal
For years, Winston-Salem leaders have talked about the need to keep native millennials here while also attracting new ones.
From Struggling Single Mom to Determined CEO Helping Women Break the Cycle of Poverty
Center For Advancing Opportunity
Meet Rasheeda Shankle, a Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) graduate and founder, president and CEO of Honorable Youth, Inc.
Women’s stories underscore importance of CSEM research
The Chronicle
As Black women with physical challenges, Green and Powell welcome a study by Research Fellows from Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM).
CSEM profiled in national documentary on equity and innovation in education
CSEM News
RIGGED Documentary - Let's Get Real about the American Dream
Graduate of CSEM-supported program spreads success to HBCUs
The Winston-Salem Journal
CSEM Fellows’ research could open doors for vulnerable residents, employers
CSEM News
The work of CSEM’s 2019-20 class of Research Fellows shares one important factor...
CSEM research shows county program is working for the people
The Winston-Salem Journal
The research found that the program has been a significant force for economic mobility in the county.
Richardson: Three surprising challenges faced by those at the bottom of the income ladder
Center For Advancing Opportunity
We know that residents of fragile communities experience immense barriers to opportunities, such as unemployment, lack of quality education options, criminal injustice..
CSEM-backed program produces graduates for changing business world
The Chronicle
Lash and three cohorts are making their own new way, thanks to a program Tate Consulting of Winston-Salem has created called “Maestro, the Playbook 2.0!”
WSSU’s $30 million gift underscores commitment by CSEM, others to underserved communities
CSEM News
The award speaks directly to the University’s continued commitment to elevating underrepresented communities through efforts like the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility and a strategic plan that emphasizes social justice and equity.
CSEM and Tate Consulting go big with transformative academy
CSEM News
Research sparked idea for leadership training.
CSEM is happy to support this program that rolls out the mighty tide of the arts
Yes Weekly
Joel Hurt and his sister Kaila Gillespie grew up in East Winston, finding hope where some might not typically see it, thanks to their mother’s arts organiza
.
CSEM’s empirical study finds success with county’s first-time homebuyer program
The Winston-Salem Journal
There is a little-known program in our county that, over two decades, has helped more than 800 residents move from renting to home ownership.
Circle of strength supported by CSEM especially important in pandemic days
WFDD
In 2018, eleven Black women volunteered to come together over eight weeks to share, learn, support one another, and to find out more about how systemic poverty has impacted their lives.
Student interns set stage for future
The Chronicle
They describe their work as transformative. They are interns for Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM).
New initiative to help at-risk youth takes off in East Winston
Yes Weekly
Project M.O.O.R. E., the second word standing for Mentoring Our Own and Rejuvenating the Environment, has transformed an old frame house just off Martin Luther King Drive into a spot where youth can gather, learn and dream...
The 2020 CSEM Community Scholars: ‘Just look for the hope. It’s out there.’
The Chronicle
The Community Scholars’ designation was created in combination with Economic Mobility Opportunity Awards, in recognition of the value of knowledge obtained by individuals...
Alvin Atkinson Honoring King's "Beloved Community"
The Winston-Salem Journal
At the dawn of this new year, and in recognition of the celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., I now write to excite and invite all of us to look within ourselves...
Searching for the local reasons the American Dream remains so elusive
Triad City Beat
Studies have also found that some areas of the country offer less mobility than most other developed countries. One of these places may just be Winston-Salem/Forsyth County.
East Winston man continues giving back with new program
Yes Weekly
CSEM, Forsyth Tech joint study reveals high cost of transportation challenges
The Chronicle
Groundbreaking research by Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), initiated by Forsyth Technical Community College (FTCC), reveals that transportation challenges are taking a heavy toll on the college’s student productivity.
We’ve got enough municipalities – and too much segregation
The Winston-Salem Journal
Lately, it seems like the one thing Americans can agree on is that we are deeply divided.
Woman helps clients achieve dream of home ownership
The Chronicle
In almost 20 years of working for the county of Forsyth, almost 15 of those as the loan officer for county’s Homeownership Program, Bianca Green has helped hundreds of local residents buy their homes...
CSEM highlighted in article on transportation in fragile communities
Center For Advancing Opportunity
People living in fragile communities face many barriers to upward social mobility, including poverty, crime, low-performing schools, inequities in law enforcement, and limited economic opportunities.
CSEM supports push to overcome food insecurity
The Winston-Salem Journal
The innovative work of Island CultureZ fits with Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), which encourages upward economic mobility. CSEM presented Island CultureZ with an Economic Mob
A CSEM regional economist warns against panic buying
WXII News 12
As we move into the winter months, an economics professor said it’s important for people to not start buying up and hoarding everyday
CSEM supports revitalizing roundtable in Boston-Thurmond
The Chronicle
The proximity of the Boston-Thurmond neighborhood to WSSU, combined with the active participation of WSSU staff, created an opportunity for WSSU’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) to present the roundtable with an Economic Mobility award.
Meet Craig Richardson
Western Carolina University-Center for the Study of Free Enterprise
CSFE Content Marketing Specialist, Allie Todd, talked with Craig Richardson. As Director of the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) and the BB&T Distinguished Professor of Economics at Winston-Salem State U
CSEM's research on class sizes could help drive public dialogue
The Chronicle
A surprising initial finding by researchers from Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility could help drive that public dialogue, especially in these pa
Students make voices heard on life in a food desert
CSEM News
They are too young to experience the food hardships they do, and they are speaking out so that their children will not have to live through those hardship
CSEM needs more community input on study of economic mobility hurdles faced by Black women with disabilities
CSEM News
A study on the hurdles to economic mobility for African American women with physical and mental health disabilities in Forsyth County has made two significant findings....
CSEM charges ahead with two new positions
CSEM News
CSEM has named two tenured WSSU professors to new research positions, expanding its outreach into the community on crucial issues of economic mobility.
Here's your chance to use CSEM's data
CSEM News
Since Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility launched three years ago, one of our bedrocks has been putting our research before the public. We continue that mission with our new data hub page.
CSEM is three-years-old!
CSEM News
Sept. 17, 2020 marks CSEM’s third birthday. We have made strong progress in bringing to light the challenges facing economic mobility in our city and c
CSEM & a local group team up to support the arts
The Winston-Salem Journal
Leaders in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County have long supported the power of the arts, but not as much in East Winston as in other areas. Hurt brings that needed focus. Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) supports her work.
What Now Winston-Salem? A New Answer
The Winston-Salem Journal
Our community, along with others across America, is in the midst of a terrible storm brought about by the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic on our economic and health ecosystems.
In pandemic days, East Winston women find strength in CSEM program begun in 2018
The Chronicle
In the summer of 2018, in that long-ago time before the pandemic, several black women from East Winston came together in a research project.
New Venture will bridge East Winston to power structures
The Chronicle
It’s six miles from East Winston to the sprawling Graylyn International Conference Center on Reynolda Road. At first blush to some, the distance might seem much more, that from blight to bright.
Increasingly refined data can pave way for upward economic mobility
The Chronicle
At Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM), data is one of our bedrocks.
CSEM receives award
CSEM News
Winston-Salem State University has recognized CSEM with a special honor.
CSEM researchers included in crucial grant to study pandemic’s economic effects
CSEM News
Winston-Salem State University announced a grant of $1 million from the UNC Board of Governors and the N.C. Policy Collaboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill to combat COVID-19...
Study on housing loss reveals few surprises for urban core
The Chronicle
Last month representatives from New America, a think tank that focuses on a range of public policy issues, revealed findings from a study that took a closer look at evictions and mortgage foreclosures in Forsyth County.
CSEM-loaded student busts the barriers
Yes Weekly
Tyler Chisolm, a Winston-Salem State University senior majoring in psychology, is bright and driven.
CSEM joins county in win-win study of home ownership
The Chronicle
Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) and the county of Forsyth have come together to study the county’s Home ownership Program.
New study analyzes soaring home displacement rates in Forsyth County
WFDD
Over the past decade, Forsyth County has made some unflattering national news. A 2015 Harvard University study revealed its status as having the third-worst economic mobility in the U
Craig Richardson and Tim Robustelli: Forsyth needs long-term solutions to housing loss
Winston-Salem Journal
Last week, protesters in Winston-Salem called for reinstatement of North Carolina’s eviction moratorium amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
WSTA suspends two-bag limit
CSEM News
The Winston-Salem Transit Authority has suspended its rule limiting passengers to just two bags of groceries, and a local high school student played a big role in its decision.
CSEM research finds city and/or businesses might benefit by subsidizing Uber use
The Chronicle
New research on the city bus system from Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) finds that female riders commuting to work pay a higher overall economic price than their male counterparts.
CSEM supports problem-solving spatial justice research
Winston-Salem Journal
The old saying is true: Geography is destiny.
Local high school student connects with CSEM and charges ahead
CSEM News
Sarina Horner works on reform of city bus system.
CSEM Research Fellow says people in poverty want some joy, too
The Chronicle
For Winston-Salem State University psychology professor Michele Lewis, two recent news stories were jarring...
Program helps East Winston students confront problems aggravated by the pandemic
The Chronicle
Student Intern Ladarian Eaton helps the YouthRise class participants define their concerns. Photo by John Railey
Released offenders welcome research to ease transition
WRAL
They come out blinking at the free world, nervous, anxious, and although most will not admit it,
How public transit affects African-Americans' upward mobility
Spectrum News
He doesn't have access to a car. Goodman, 19, has to start his day hours before his shift to catch the #87 bus at the city's Transportation Center...
Aligning to give vulnerable students the gifted teachers they need
The Chronicle
The challenge of how to get the best teachers in the lowest-performing schools in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools system is one that has confounded educators for years...
Hear these young people (speak on structural racism)
Winston-Salem Journal
A rising senior at an East Winston High School, spoke to researchers from Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) about the fear he feels from others as an African-American male...
Pandemic heightens concerns for bus rider
CSEM News
Subject of documentary film rises to new challenges
Exploring the reasons behind the high rates of Hispanic evictions in pandemic
Triad City Beat
Vanessa Reyes of Winston-Salem has come a long way in her 19 years, and a big part of her journey from Mexico has been the road to speaking out, trying to explain to the public the reasons her fellow Latinx residents face high eviction rates...
WSSU grad works with CSEM, Tate Consulting on economic mobility
The Chronicle
For Quinton Benson, it all started that day he saw the boy in the grocery store...
CSEM intern Sierra Chesnutt charges ahead
CSEM News
Corona virus restrictions challenge this intern, but won’t stop her work.
Graduates of entrepreneurial class are future of East Winston
The Chronicle
Graduates of the inaugural class of the East Winston version of the “Playbook for Entrepreneurial Excellence” took their virtual graduation, the new normal now...
Hispanics in Forsyth County may face higher risk of eviction from COVID-19
Winston-Salem Journal
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office recently announced a halt to evictions as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the United States. Delinquent renters can now remain in their homes
CSEM research could open doors for African American women with disabilities
The Chronicle
The pandemic underscores the need for this study.
How COVID-19 may amplify education inequities
WRAL
CSEM Fellow explores what could be a transformative time
Forsyth Tech, WSSU center join to put students on ‘wheels’ to success
The Chronicle
Schools take on longstanding transportation challenges
John Railey: Helping offenders rebuild their lives
Winston-Salem Journal
CSEM Fellow brings life experience to innovative research.
CSEM research could spur dialogue on helping low-performing schools
Yes Weekly
Research from CSEM’s Zach Blizard provides some answers on how the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County system can improve its low-performing schools.
John Railey: Wake Forest, Winston-Salem State united on residents' property rights
WRAL
Educators from Wake Forest University’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic and CSEM join forces to confront our high rate of evictions and other issues
Our work is now all the more important
CSEM Staff Report
CSEM's work researching the causes and effects of generational poverty wont be slowed by the Corona virus pandemic. The effort is too important, and our momentum is growing.
CSEM to be featured as higher ed innovator in the forthcoming documentary Rigged- April 2020.
CSEM News
RIGGED examines how the long prevailing value system in U.S. higher education erodes individual opportunity and undermines U.S. democracy. The Center for the Study of Economic Mobility at WSSU is featured as one of the innovators that will reverse this trend and that will ultimately transform colleges and universities into pathways for student engagement and social mobility. Interviews with staff members, faculty and top administrators at WSSU each provide perspective on how the University creates success for its students.
CSEM’s new partnership could be explosive in a good way
CSEM News
Can you imagine being in college and having a great business idea or an individual who has been working for over 20 years in a job unfulfilled because it did not align with your passion? If you said yes, there is a program designed to help you achieve your goals.
In February, the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) and Tate Consulting began the Playbook for Entrepreneurial Excellence, an eight-week program designed to arm individuals with CEO leadership competencies and skills to give you the confidence to be your boss.
Commentary: Equality, equity: Leveling the playing field for black students
WS Chronicle
Dr. Charity Griffin, a 2018-2019 CSEM fellow, puts a thought-provoking context on the principal reassignments in our local school system
CSEM scholars give a presentation at Wake Forest University on transportation and inequity
Triad City Beat
There is a needed symmetry developing in the local push to reduce poverty, and Winston-Salem State and Wake Forest universities continued that alignment with a panel discussion this week at Wake Forest: “Transportation and Inequity in Winston-Salem."
Professors Russ Smith and Craig Richardson presented the challenges posed by both the geography and the growing concentration of poverty.
WFDD radio interview: Profs. Smith and Richardson reveal transportation’s role in economic mobility
WFDD radio
Winston-Salem State University geography professor Russell Smith and economics professor Craig Richardson were recently interviewed by WFDD's David Ford. The WSSU professors discussed transportation and inequity in Forsyth County and its special challenges.
CSEM announces 2019-20 Faculty Research Fellows
WSSU News
Three WSSU faculty members have been selected as the 2019-20 Center for the Study of Economic Mobility Faculty Research Fellows.
CSEM research referenced in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
Gentrification in the D.C. area phase been found to push people from homes and away from transit.
The Center for the Study of Economic Mobility in Winston-Salem, N.C. found that city bus commuters spent on average 8.6 extra hours per week riding the bus compared with how much time it would take to drive to work, making life even more difficult for those located in "transportation deserts."
Inclusion in documentary of WSSU's CSEM underscores its national prominence
The Chronicle
The Center for the Study of Economic Mobility gains national prominence for its innovative platform in solving economic mobility. Its profile in Rigged, a new documentary, will feature WSSU faculty, staff, and students aligned with CSEM's mission.
Washington, D.C.-based think tank New America announces partnership with CSEM and others to study property loss in the United States.
New America: Future of Property Rights Press Release
CSEM is working in an advisory capacity with New America based in Washington, DC. The goal is to map home and land loss across the country and conduct on-the-ground research in Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina. CSEM will be playing a special role in Forsyth County along with Wake Forest Law School.
Craig J. Richardson and Russell Smith: ‘Spreading the wealth’ in the East Ward
Winston-Salem Journal
Several years of planning and community conversation led to a plan to help invigorate the East End area, also known as the East End Master Plan. Now, it seems those plans are up for debate. As some city council members are mulling over whether to allow those funds to be spread across the entire East Ward to spread the wealth.
Local economist assesses New York Times’ take on Winston-Salem
WFDD radio
A recent article in the New York Times, Why Midsize Cities Struggle to Catch Up to Superstar Cities, has put Winston-Salem in the national spotlight. But based on the reaction it’s received thus far from local residents and an increasingly vocal group of public officials, some are wondering whether the story got it right.
Craig J. Richardson: Innovation in transportation: Can it happen here?
Winston-Salem Journal
Since our founding in September 2017, the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM) has generated academic research with the aim of spurring beneficial public debate. Housed at Winston-Salem State University, CSEM has been at the vanguard of empirical research around our local public transportation system, along with a host of other research initiatives.
