The new KCK – KU Partnership Center has been established through a Community Outreach Partnership Center Grant from the Depa rtment of HUD. Housing and Urban Development. The mission of the Center is to improve the quality of life of residents of the urban core. To do that, residents need to:
- Increase their level of education to increase employability,
- Build assets through home ownership,
- Build civic capacity in order to have needs of the urban core citizenry reflected in the local governmental agenda.
To accomplish this mission, the center brings together knowledge and resources from multiple academic units of the university and, in partnership with community organizations and residents, addresses urban issues identified at the local level that are consistent with the center's mission.
The KCK-KU Partnership Center was initiated by four campus-based entities with a long-standing track record of community engagement, the Schools of Social Welfare and Education, the Policy Research Institute and the Department of Public Administration. Initial local collaborators included: