For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.

November 19, 1998

WRIGHT STATE, NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS
HOLD REVITALIZATION KICKOFF EVENT

A three-year, $1.6 million partnership to revitalize four Dayton inner core neighborhoods was launched today by representatives of Wright State University, the city of Dayton, the office of Congressman Tony Hall and several Dayton neighborhood development organizations. The Dayton Community Outreach Partnership (DCOP) will aid the development of the Old Dayton View, Southern Dayton View, Wolf Creek and Twin Towers/Newcom Plain neighborhoods. It will create long-term partnerships between the university and its urban neighbors.

In September, Wright State was one of 18 universities nationwide awarded a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) program. The initiative provides funds to help universities work collaboratively with neighborhoods and community organizations to address issues of housing, education, business development, planning and health.

DCOP will organize activities into three program partnerships: Community of Learners, Community Building and Community Innovation. The programs are designed to foster community self-sufficiency through such projects as:

-creation of an education advocacy program to monitor students' progress, along with a program to train tutors to help improve students' progress;

-training and providing community health advocates to assist residents with health matters and to help them get access to health care;

-developing a community information system to aid neighborhood development planning;

-sponsoring an annual housing fair to highlight community assets and promote the neighborhoods as desirable places to live;

-providing architectural assistance and community organizing; and

-completing a financial and management assessment of the Twin Towers Food Mart and a plan to continue and improve the grocery store.

Partners in the project include the Affordable Housing Fund, Bank One, the City of Dayton, Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority, the Dayton Power and Light Company, Dayton View Community Development Corp., East End Community Service Corp., Martin Luther King Development Coalition, Neighborhood Investment Resources Corp., Oikos Community Development Corp., Progressive Wolf Creek Community Development Corp. and St. Agnes Church.

Speakers at the event, held at St. Agnes Church in Dayton, included Jack Dustin, Ph.D., director of Wright State's Center for Urban and Public Affairs; John Fleischauer, Ph.D., special assistant to the president for community outreach; Jim Vangrov, district director for Congressman Tony Hall's office; State Senator Rhine L. McLin; Dayton City Commissioners Dean A. Lovelace and Lloyd E. Lewis, Jr.; Corrie Watts, executive director, Dayton View CDC; Sister Rose Wildenhaus, executive director, and Dick McBride, president, St. Mary's Neighborhood Development Corporation; Marjorie Wingfield, president, Progressive Wolf Creek CDC; and Thomas Glasper, executive director, Progressive Wolf Creek Neighborhood Association.

For more information, contact Dustin at (937) 775-2941.

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