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Sociology professor Stephanie Gonzalez Guittar is the recipient of the 2021-2022 McKean Grant Award. Established in 1982 through the generosity of the College’s 10th president, Hugh McKean, and his wife Jeanette, the award is designed to help a faculty member achieve a “once in a lifetime” accomplishment that would otherwise be out of reach. Each year, Rollins alumni who work as professors and scholars at institutions around the world evaluate proposals for the grant.

Through the support of the McKean Grant, Gonzalez Guittar intends to undertake original research illuminating the experiences of homeless families living in extended-stay motels. This population is especially underrepresented and little understood since research exploring the affordable housing crisis typically focuses on single people or households without children.

Gonzalez Guittar is using this opportunity to explore how living in a motel has affected the physical and mental health of such families. She will also investigate the impacts of their housing situation on their interpersonal relationships and interactions with other social networks.

Perhaps most importantly, Gonzalez Guittar’s research will seek to identify barriers, whether structural or socio-cultural, that prevent these families from accessing income support programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, or cash transfer programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit.
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