| The Georgetown University Center for Outreach and Community Partnership (GCOPC) is helping African American and Latino people living in two Washington, D.C. neighborhoods to develop community-based strategic research, planning, and development capabilities. Designated as Empowerment Zones, the neighborhoods of North Capitol and Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights are challenged by high levels of poverty, lack of economic development, low levels of human capital development, high rates of crime and violence, and poor academic achievement. More than 25 percent of neighborhood residents live in poverty. Crime and violence rates exceed those of the District of Columbia as a whole, while school achievement levels are among the lowest in the city. To exacerbate the situation, community-based organizations and the District of Columbia government lack both adequate resources and management expertise to address the challenges confronting these poor communities. Although North Capitol and Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights share the characteristic of poverty, they are quite different in their ethnic and racial composition. The North Capitol Community is over 95 percent African American while in Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights, African Americans comprise roughly 45 percent of the population, Latino, Asian, and African immigrants make up roughly 40 percent, and Whites make up 15 percent. Through the COPC, faculty from six Georgetown colleges work with community residents and leaders from more than 15 community-based organizations. COPC activities focus on enhancing planning and community organization, reducing violence and crime among adolescents, and developing new neighborhood-based economic opportunities. Accomplishing these tasks will help revitalize the neighborhoods with which GCOPC works directly. The COPC program also functions as a model and source of technical assistance for other neighborhoods in the District of Columbia.
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