| The University of Wisconsin-Parkside (UWP) in Kenosha, Wisconsin will use a Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) New Directions grant to help residents of three disadvantaged neighborhoods in Racine and Kenosha find better jobs, acquire more education, correct code and lead violations in their homes, and enforce fair housing standards. The COPC will target its activities to the West Sixth Street and Southside neighborhoods in Racine and the reinvestment area in Kenosha.
UWP is a small, 4-year institution located in an urban corridor midway between Chicago and Milwaukee. While the university's original COPC project, funded in 1997, focused on community organizing and empowerment, its New Directions grant will address housing and economic development, both serious and intertwined issues in the central cities of Racine and Kenosha. Inner-city residents of both cities have lower median incomes, higher rates of poverty, lower rates of homeownership, much higher unemployment rates, and lower levels of educational attainment than other parts of the region. Fewer residents own their own homes and those homes typically have significantly lower market values than homes in other neighborhoods. Corresponding to the very high unemployment rate in the central city areas are high rates of minority concentration and large numbers of individuals who have not graduated from high school.
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