Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program FY 1999 Grantee

MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON, GA -- $400,000

Mercer University will receive a Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program New Grant of $400,000 to work with the residents of the South Central neighborhood in Macon, Georgia. In recent decades, the quality of the housing stock has deteriorated dramatically, and the neighborhood has been affected by very high rates of crime, adult illiteracy, and unemployment. Until recently, the neighborhood has been without a unified voice, further exacerbating the problems.

Among the activities Mercer will undertake are:

• Empowering residents through capacity building projects such as leadership skills training, community-oriented policing, and community history projects;

• Offering school success and life skills projects such as after-school enrichment programs, scholarships for low-income youth leaders to attend Mercer, and training peer mentors to reduce teen pregnancy;

• Cataloguing neighborhood vacant properties and preparing residential and commercial redevelopment plans; and

• Identification of barriers to fair housing practices.

Contact: Dr. Peter Brown, 912-750-9582

Content Archived: January 20, 2009