| With an estimated poverty rate of 44.2 percent, Camden, New Jersey, is the State's most distressed municipality, according to the Department of Community Affairs. At the same time, this city of 87,000 residents is witnessing important community economic revitalization efforts. These include the Ford Foundation Community Development Partnership Initiative and designation as a Federal Empowerment Zone (EZ). The COPC at Rowan University complements these efforts by providing selected groups in four city neighborhoods with capacity building and strategic planning assistance. It is also expanding local early-childhood services; targeting job development, training, and placement services to the welfare-to-work population; and improving the area's economic development infrastructure. The COPC target neighborhoods represent a diverse cross section of Camden. Parkside and East Camden are relatively stable neighborhoods of single-family homes. North and South Camden are more economically and educationally distressed neighborhoods where community-based organizations struggle to rehabilitate and save abandoned row homes, one at a time. Partners in the COPC initiative include the city, the Camden Board of Education, the Camden EZ, and several area healthcare providers.
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