When Martel College sophomore Priya Verma surveyed residents across Harris County about health insurance access, she heard firsthand how rising costs and funding cuts were affecting families in real time.
Other Rice University students mapped social vulnerability across Houston neighborhoods or evaluated leadership development programs designed to strengthen community organizations.
Their work was part of Community Bridges, a Kinder Institute for Urban Research program that pairs Rice undergraduates with local nonprofits and community organizations to tackle real-world challenges through research.
More than 20 students recently presented their projects during the program’s end-of-year poster showcase, highlighting months of community-engaged research conducted alongside Houston-area partners including BakerRipley, Civic Heart Community Services and Local Initiatives Support Corp.
For many students, the experience offered something difficult to replicate in a traditional classroom setting: the opportunity to work directly with communities while seeing how research can shape decisions and improve lives.
“I learned so much,” said Verma, who worked with Civic Heart Community Services to study how changes to Affordable Care Act funding are affecting Harris County residents. “Just seeing how government policy affects individual lives was really interesting.”
Verma surveyed residents at health outreach events across Harris County, examining how insurance status, affordability and trust in government intersect with daily stress and access to care. Through her research, she found that many residents insured through Affordable Care Act programs still experienced significant instability and anxiety surrounding health care costs.
The project also gave her a deeper understanding of Houston itself.
“I’m an out-of-state student, so I came to Houston freshman year not knowing anything,” Verma said. “Being boots on the ground here, while also going back into class and doing readings about Houston and social policy, has been really interesting.”
Duncan College sophomore Amelia Brown partnered with the Local Initiatives Support Corp. to evaluate the organization’s “Training for Trainers” leadership development initiative, which supports community leaders working across housing, education, health and youth programs.
Through interviews with past participants, Brown explored how the program helped strengthen professional networks, outreach efforts and community collaboration.
“To be able to experience it firsthand in the community is a really unique experience that is really hard to get otherwise,” Brown said. “It was really grounding to understand how dedicated people are to supporting their communities.”
Meanwhile, Martel College sophomore Cory Voskanian partnered with BakerRipley to build an interactive dashboard mapping social vulnerability across Harris County ZIP codes. Using data visualization tools and coding skills learned throughout the project, Voskanian created a framework the organization may eventually integrate into a future mobile app.
“I wasn’t expecting these technical skills to be developed,” Voskanian said. “I think a lot of the time you learn things in class and don’t expect to actually apply them to a real-world project.”
The Community Bridges program is designed to benefit both students and community organizations, said Ruth López Turley, director of the Kinder Institute.
“It’s actually a win-win kind of situation where it gives the undergrads real research experience, but it also helps these organizations,” López Turley said. “These are real issues they’re dealing with.”
She said it is especially meaningful to see students contributing research that organizations can use immediately.
“I just talked to a student whose organization is already implementing changes as a result of her findings,” López Turley said. “They just finished the project, and they’re already using it.”
For López Turley, the program also represents an opportunity she would’ve liked to experience herself.
“I’m jealous honestly,” she said with a laugh. “I wish I had had an experience like this as an undergrad.”
As students presented their findings to classmates, faculty and community partners, the showcase reflected the broader mission behind Community Bridges: connecting classroom learning with meaningful work happening across Houston communities every day.