Through the Affton Community Partnership, Affton
and the University of Missouri-St. Louis have come together to tackle
issues that Affton residents and leaders say may threaten the community's
future. On November 22, PPRC was awarded a two-year grant of nearly
$200,000 to fund a community-building project in Affton. Known as
a New Directions grant, funds were awarded from the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development's Community Outreach Partnership
Center program. Kay Gasen, director of PPRC’s Community and
Neighborhood Development unit, is the project manager for the grant
project, and Terry Jones, professor of Political Science at UMSL,
is the principal investigator.
The Affton Community Partnership will focus on three key areas:
Welcoming New Americans to the Affton Community
Supporting Affton's Senior Residents
Building Capacity for Community Leadership
This year, HUD awarded only seven New Directions grants nationwide,
totaling more than $1.3 million. The University of Missouri –
St. Louis was eligible to apply for the New Directions grant because
of success with a 2001 HUD COPC grant focusing on the Old North St.
Louis neighborhood in the City of St. Louis. The new grant extends
UMSL's work to another geographic area – Affton – and
expands the focus to include issues related to housing and immigration,
as well as community leadership.
Click here to learn what's new for the partnership. |
