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University Partnership Aims to Develop Lower Income Areas

Posted on: Friday, 25 November 2005, 21:00 CST

By Tim Jamison, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Nov. 25--WATERLOO --- Theresa Mosley said a program connecting Waterloo's lower income areas to the University of Northern Iowa campus has helped imbue a "can do" attitude that empowered neighborhood associations.

The Community Outreach Partnership Center, started in 2001 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, brought expertise from UNI into the city's east side to develop community improvement programs and led to the formation of the Waterloo Neighborhood Coalition.

Mosley served as the first president of the coalition, which brought together leaders of 28 formal neighborhood associations in a sort of "congress" to tackle issues and lobby local government more effectively.

"COPC brought some support, knowledge and some background to us," Mosley said. "It has made great strides and it really has made more people aware that there is power in numbers."

The success of the initial five-year federal grant program has led HUD to extend the COPC program for another 20 months, using a $200,000 New Directions Grant matched with another $240,000 in university funds and contributions from various community agencies. Program director R. Allen Hays learned about the extension from Sen. Charles Grassley earlier this month.

"This was a program developed by (HUD) to encourage universities to take their resources and use them constructively in the community," Hays said. "Our program is primarily focused at the low- to moderate-income neighborhoods in Waterloo and I feel very proud that we delivered everything we promised" in the original grant application.

COPC set up an office in the KWWL Building and employed a staff person, Cheryl Faires, to work full-time coordinating the large variety of COPC activities.

UNI's industrial technology program got involved teaching home maintenance courses. The Women's Empowerment Program was created to teach self-sufficiency skills to low-income families, while two youth programs --- Youth Taking Care of Business and Positive Images for Girls --- operated in 2002-03 to teach entrepreneurship, skills and self-confidence to kids ages 11-16.

COPC also supported the enrollment of 18 low-income students in the UNI Suzuki School, making the music training affordable to families who otherwise would have been shut out due to costs.

Hays is quick to point out many of the COPC programs were accomplished in conjunction with other community organizations and human services agencies. A prime example is the Community Partnership for the Protection of Children

"We didn't do it ourselves by any stretch," Hays said. "But we were able to really expand the whole level of cooperation and interaction between the neighborhoods and human services agencies ... by getting all the people to the table."

Still, it is the Waterloo Neighborhood Coalition, formed in the fall of 2001, that is COPC's most visible achievement.

"One of the most important things we did was trying to give the neighborhoods more of a voice through the coalition," Hays said. "The neighborhoods were kind of fragmented before, and this allowed them to talk with one voice.

"It got the neighborhoods in the loop and participating in the process," he added. "We work with the city when we can and tried to establish cooperative relationships with the city ... not that we don't have to give them a nudge or do some strong advocacy at times."

The new grant providing COPC's 20-month extension takes a new focus in several areas.

UNI's Institute for Decision Making will be providing technical assistance for the Waterloo Neighborhood Economic Development Corp., an organization formed to promote economic development in inner city neighborhoods. UNI's Regional Business Center will be providing the MyEntrenet Program, which supports and encourages entrepreneurs to start new businesses, in those same neighborhoods.

Finally, the new grant will support new youth safety, development and recreation programs.

Hays said one regret is that the grant extension won't allow Faires to stay on as a full-time coordinator.

"She'll continue helping part-time," Hays said. "But this (COPC program) wouldn't have been half the success that it was without Cheryl."

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Copyright (c) 2005, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

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Source: Waterloo Courier

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