Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program FY 1999 Grantee

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, NY -- $399,770

Cornell University will receive a Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program New Grant of $399,770 to work in four Ithaca neighborhoods-Northside Triangle, Southside, Titus Flats, and the Downtown District--on a wide variety of community-identified projects. All of these neighborhoods have higher rates of public assistance, lower income levels, lower educational attainment, and unemployment rates than the City of Ithaca at large. The University has formed a partnership with the City government, the Housing Authority, the Department of Social Services, the City schools, the Police Department, Catholic Charities, and the Southside Community Center to undertake an extensive array of outreach and applied research projects.

Among the activities Cornell will undertake are:

• Mentoring welfare clients to provide them with job preparedness computer skills and personal financial management training;

• Identification of brownfields and development of remediation strategies;

• Assisting in the development of a broad-based area-wide Housing Coalition to identify priorities and ways to improve affordability and availability;

• Development of a Community Leadership Institute to provide training to community-based organizations in organizational development, governance, and fundraising;

• Creation of an on-line Community Bulletin Board to promote information sharing among community groups and service providers; and

• Highlighting block-by-block street and park safety issues and working with community residents to develop a plan to establish safe streets.

Content Archived: January 20, 2009