Worcester Collaborative Development Project Wins National Award

    WORCESTER, Mass., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The University Park Partnership
 (UPP), a widely recognized grassroots effort to bring a better quality of life
 to a Main South neighborhood of Worcester will receive a national award for
 excellence in New York City on Thursday, June 19.
     The award will be accepted by Clark University and the Main South
 Community Development Corporation (MSCDC) from Seedco, a nonprofit New York
 City corporation supported by the Ford Foundation.  Seedco provides technical
 and financial assistance to community based organizations and institutions
 working in partnership to revitalize communities.
     Since 1986, Seedco has provided grants and low-interest loans totaling
 nearly $370,000 to support Clark-MSCDC programs in affordable housing,
 economic development and related activities.  In addition, the University Park
 Partnership has also attracted $2.4 million in funding from the U.S.
 Department of Housing and Urban Development, which considers UPP a national
 model, and more than $2 million in support from Worcester-area foundations.
     Clark and the MSCDC were participants in Seedco's first large-scale
 program, the Urban Institutions Program, which involved more than 20 projects
 nationwide.
     "The Clark-MSCDC partnership exemplifies the Seedco mission of encouraging
 anchor institutions to recognize their key role as a community stakeholder and
 provide tangible resources in support of the revitalization strategy developed
 by the institution and community," said Seedco President Thomas Seessel.
     Since UPP was announced nearly two years ago, substantial progress has
 been made, including the establishment of a collaborative school between Clark
 and the Worcester public schools, the creation of a neighborhood Alert Center
 for the delivery of municipal services, the relocation of the Clark University
 president's home to historic Woodland Street, the purchase of homes by Clark
 faculty and staff and the development of after-school and summer programs for
 neighborhood children.  Also, crime in the UPP target area has measurably
 decreased.
 
 

SOURCE  Clark University