| The Martin Luther King (MLK) community, once a prosperous commercial and residential district, is located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. During its most prosperous years in the early 1900s, the MLK community contained schools, churches, an African-American-owned hospital, hotels, a commercial district, and a thriving residential area. These key elements combined to create a self-sufficient, growing community. Today, churches remain in the area, but most other elements that were vital to MLK's early success are absent. Moreover, residents of this once vibrant area are now characteristically poor, elderly, undereducated, and likely to be afflicted with a work disability.
In the past 5 years, the MLK community has taken significant steps to improve its economy through new business and housing developments. In addition, a comprehensive streetscape improvement project brought new sidewalks, curbs, guttering, lighting, and landscaping to the area. Despite these beginnings, however, revitalization remains elusive. The community still has the second lowest median income in Hamilton County. Per capita income ($5,896) in the MLK area is 61 percent lower than the State average ($15,074) and 67 percent lower than the national average ($17,706).
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) is working with the City of Chattanooga, the Martin Luther King District Redevelopment Task Force, and numerous community organizations to change these statistics. The organizations have established a Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) that aims to empower community residents, businesses, and organizations to play a vital role in bringing about change in their own community. By helping the community identify and alleviate current problems in the area of health, crime, education, and job training--and by establishing proactive plans for the future--the COPC hopes to enable the MLK area to become a self-sustaining district of which its residents and all of Chattanooga can be proud.
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