| The Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) at Auburn University in Uniontown, Alabam, is working with Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama, Design Corps (a nonprofit organization), and the city of Uniontown to help revitalize the community. Uniontown has approximately 3,400 residents (three-quarters of whom are African American) and is located between Selma and Demopolis along U.S. Highway 80 in west central Alabama. For a time, the town served as an agricultural, warehousing, and transportation center. However, most of the major businesses in the city have closed or moved, leaving a poorly educated workforce and high unemployment. Uniontown's $12,649 median family income is less than half of Alabama's median income. The city's schools are struggling, with test scores lagging well below state averages. A local housing survey found that more than half of the city's occupied units were substandard.
The city's leadership is attempting to address the problems. With the assistance of Auburn University, the Mayor recently completed a strategic planning process and plan, Uniontown 2020. COPC activities will address the needs identified in the plan in four broad areas: civic infrastructure, physical infrastructure, education, and economic development. The Economic Development Institute at Auburn will coordinate the COPC.
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