The HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) awarded the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and its community partners one of its first grants to develop its collaborative efforts. A positive interaction between the university and the community is shown by a case study of the involvement of one Chicago community group, Renacer West Side Community Center, with the UIC Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI). Support from federal programs has been an important facet of this developing relationship.

Community activists were part of the process in developing the UIC program from its inception. UIC is on Chicago's West Side, a predominantly African-American area that has long been economically depressed and underserved by public and private institutions. Renacer works with community residents on the West Side of Chicago in a range of community development issues. The relationship between UICNI and Renacer has been a fruitful one for both sides, but is the result of a long process of increasing mutual awareness of the facets of each institution. As knowledge and awareness of the interests and capabilities of each side were exchanged, the result was a stronger relationship between university and community.

The Renacer Executive Director, Ed Lucas, was an early participant in the university process developing the UICNI and the Great Cities program. He worked with university partners in the early COPC grant on specific economic development projects, including the UIC Hiring and Purchasing Committee. He continued his involvement as HUD awarded UICNI a Joint Community Development grant. He also worked with university personnel involved in the federal Empowerment Zone process and the Dept. of Commerce's NTIA technology work, indicating the importance of the federal government's support for these efforts.

Lucas's work with the university in specific projects led to his increased involvement in UICNI and his appointment to its Steering Committee. In turn, Lucas worked to leverage more resources out of the university for the community and community groups. He accessed university resources to help build capacity in his own group and other West Side community organizations. The results lead to a discussion of important "lessons learned" for forming future university/community partnerships.

This paper will address several of the matrix subject areas and policy implications in the conference announcement. It will discuss effective outreach activities, research and pedagogical analyses, and the effects of the program on institutions - both in the community and the university.