| Located 12 miles west of New York City and immediately north of Newark, New Jersey's largest city, Montclair State University is a 4-year institution that provides opportunities for academic excellence to local residents while fostering civic engagement.
Though the image of the Township of Montclair is one of a diverse and prosperous community, there are low-income sections within the area that are experiencing a downturn in adequate housing and access to social services. In particular, the Pine Street/Glenfield Park neighborhood has experienced demographic and economic upheaval caused by urban renewal redevelopment projects in the late 1960s and the current installation of the Montclair Connection train line into Manhattan which has lead to the demolition of valuable housing. To address these issues, Montclair State University and its partners will establish a Community Outreach Partnership Center to improve the residents' capacity to work together in addressing the needs of the neighborhoods through community organizing activities, promote neighborhood stability and affordable housing through a series of workshops, provide activities for youth to address the achievement gap and develop a multigenerational program to help residents learn how to use computers.
Among the partners in this collaboration are the university's College of Education and Human Services which is home to the New Jersey Network for Educational Renewal, one of the foremost school-university partnerships in the Nation. Other community and University collaborators include the Township of Montclair, Home of Montclair Ecumenical Corporation (HOMECorp.), Day Nurseries, Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Montclair State University Foundation, the Center for Community-Based Learning, and the Institute for Community Studies.
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