| The Westwood Enterprise Community in Denver, Colorado, is a densely settled area where more than one-third of residents live in poverty and most pay more than 40 percent of their monthly incomes for rent. Eighty-three percent of Westwood's population is Latino, but the community also has a large number of Asian residents.
Westwood residents generally find it difficult to earn a living wage within or near the neighborhood. Although 25 percent of the population has expressed an interest in starting a small business, there remains a lack of business diversity in the community.
To relieve some of the economic pressures that neighborhood residents feel, and to help them build a stronger sense of community, the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) at the University of Denver will sponsor a variety of activities in Westwood. COPC activities will focus on four basic areas: education, economic development, community organizing, and affordable housing. Project partners include the Morrison Road Small Business Association of Denver; the Westwood Neighborhood Association; Westwood Housing, a public housing development; Colorado Microcredit, which provides loans and other business services to low-income entrepreneurs; and the Southwest Improvement Center, a community development project located in Westwood.
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