Wilmington Partnership lead recognized for community work
The ACLU of Delaware has recognized Ann M. Aviles, associate professor of Human Development and Family Sciences in the College of Education and Human Development with a 2024 Kandler Award.
Aviles was honored for her community-based work in defense of Delawareans’ civil liberties. As co-chair of Delaware’s H.O.M.E.S. (Housing Opportunity Mobility Equity Stability) Campaign, a coalition of local residents, unhoused community members, educators, and advocates, Aviles works on housing policy issues like rent stabilization and right to representation for tenants under threat of eviction throughout the state.
“Our main responsibility is ensuring that we’re not doing harm, that we’re really helping support the efforts of what people need and want,” Aviles said. “We can build our research alongside, but it should not be research at the expense of the community.”
Housing concerns have been a thread through Aviles’ study and service since she worked at a domestic violence agency as an undergraduate. After arriving in Delaware, Aviles steadily built trust with the Wilmington community by attending events and partnering with faculty and researchers who had established relationships, in particular, with Yasser A. Payne, professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and the groundbreaking Street Participatory Action Research team.
Aviles also leads the Wilmington Partnership, an effort of the University’s Community Engagement Initiative (CEI), which utilizes the research expertise of University faculty, staff, volunteers, and students to address the challenges and concerns identified by Wilmington community leaders, organizations, and residents.
“The work that inspired this award selection is exactly the kind of community engaged partnership that helps to make real every day the University’s commitment to corporate citizenship and community impact,” said Michael Vaughan, vice provost for equity and faculty director of CEI, “as we support and partner with communities, we support a stronger and better informed citizenry!”
Aviles credits her role as the Wilmington faculty fellow with allowing her the time to dedicate “to developing relationships with the community and leveraging [her] particular research expertise in housing to support the efforts of housing justice in Wilmington and in Delaware.”