IN THIS ISSUE:

 Grantee Spotlight: Sustainable Design: At the Intersection of Research and Practice in Tucson
 Empowerment and Inclusive Economic Development in South Los Angeles
 Facilitating Community Change: Auburn University in Uniontown

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Facilitating Community Change: Auburn University in Uniontown

Uniontown, a 1,600-person community in Alabama’s Black Belt, is once again taking control of its future with assistance from Auburn University and other anchor institutions in the state. This small town started as the market center for surrounding plantations in a region named for its fertile soil, later becoming a hub for manufacturing. However, the decline of small farms and the globalization of industry took a heavy toll on the region’s economy, and Uniontown has been particularly hard hit. Beginning in the late 1990s, Auburn and its partners helped Uniontown residents build capacity to address economic issues and mend the longstanding racial divide in this small community, where the African-American population (90% of residents) holds political power and the white population (10%) holds economic power. At the same time, Auburn has learned important lessons about how to work effectively in rural towns throughout Alabama.

Adjusting Auburn’s Role

In 1999, David Wilson, Auburn University’s vice president and associate provost for university outreach, selected Uniontown as a partner in the university’s economic development efforts in Black Belt communities. Auburn’s Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI) formed a team with six other universities, including the University of Alabama and Tuskegee University, as well as several state and federal agencies and nonprofits. Their combined efforts resulted in a strategic plan and a new community development corporation to carry it out.

Uniontown Cares helped to move the local library to a former bank and worked with Auburn University to equip it with computers. Credit: Auburn University ECDI Although the team worked closely with the mayor and city council, efforts to involve Uniontown residents in the planning process were largely ineffective, as meetings often resulted in individuals deferring to the mayor and a small group of city leaders. When the mayor lost his bid for reelection in 2000, Auburn reassessed its role and the nature of its partnership with Uniontown. Auburn officials realized that they had treated the city as a “bundle of needs” to be resolved by powerful outsiders and other perceived experts. Rather than providing technical assistance for the development of Uniontown, Auburn staff realized that they needed to concentrate their efforts on developing an open forum where a truly representative group of residents can discuss issues and agree on solutions.

Empowering Residents

The retirees and friends of elected officials who had attended the planning meetings and served on the community development corporation clearly did not represent youth and politically inactive residents. Based on insights gained from a round of personal interviews, Auburn recruited 25 residents to take part in a focus group. These individuals better represented the demographic and economic range of Uniontown and were able to offer valuable insights on how ordinary citizens viewed their community and what they hoped to change. The group discussed the issues they saw as important and “increasingly began to realize their capacity for doing something about them.” Embracing the new attitude of engagement and power, the group named itself Uniontown Cares.

Collaborating for Progress

Rather than simply voicing community concerns to be addressed by the city government, Uniontown Cares identified solutions and drove change. The way the group resolved its loitering problem is representative of Uniontown Care’s newfound engagement and empowerment. At first, the group saw loiterers as vagrants and criminals whom the city should arrest. But during discussions that revealed participants’ personal knowledge and passion for the community, the group came to identify the loiterers as friends and neighbors suffering from alcoholism and drug abuse. Realizing an opportunity to improve residents’ lives, Uniontown Cares developed an Alcoholics Anonymous group to provide support through regular meetings.

Uniontown Cares also improved the community’s image by organizing clean-ups of litter and blighted properties. These programs spurred the city to further action, assigning staff and allocating resources to support these efforts. The clean-ups also resulted in additional investment in the city’s downtown. Other Uniontown Cares efforts include establishing a website for Uniontown, creating a directory of local resources and skills, and renovating a former bank building to house the local library.

Funding for Change

Uniontown Cares funded its community-strengthening work through a grant from the Kettering Foundation and a $382,000 Community Outreach Partnership Centers grant awarded in 2000 by the Office of University Partnerships. The grants also funded several other initiatives, including improvements to landscaping and security lighting at public housing developments in the city. In addition, Auburn used a portion of the grant funds to increase the city’s capacity by streamlining its budgetary process and enhancing its personnel system. Following these activities, Uniontown Cares won several additional grants for infrastructure improvements and a parenting initiative.

Moving Forward

Residents who joined Uniontown Cares became active citizens spearheading change in their community. According to ECDI director Joe Sumners, the group not only helped increase participation in community development efforts but also fostered conversations that had not previously occurred in Uniontown. Residents have begun to bridge the racial divide and overcome other barriers to civic action. Although the city still faces significant struggles, the increase in resident participation has fostered community identity, pride, and empowerment. Uniontown Cares continues to meet biweekly to address the city’s issues. Auburn University is no longer actively involved in the community’s efforts, but the continued dedication of Uniontown Cares builds on its legacy.

ECDI also learned important lessons about how to engage constituents and generate change in Black Belt communities. Auburn’s experience in Uniontown pointed to a new approach to community development that focuses “less explicitly on problem solving and much more on facilitating dialogue, listening, and responding to the needs of … citizens as they defined them.” Citing the value of change that comes directly from community members, Sumners emphasizes that ECDI has used what it learned in Uniontown to shape its work in rural communities.

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