Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Awards $427,000-Grant To Delta Research And Design Center

CLARENDON, Ark.—The University of Arkansas Delta Research and Design Center (DRDC) will receive a grant totaling $427,000 to support the outreach program serving the Arkansas Delta. The DRDC is a division of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC), which is an outreach unit of the UA School of Architecture.

The grant, beginning July 1, 2002 and ending June 30, 2005, will fund such projects as an annual economic development seminar, an annual summer workshop, an elementary and secondary education outreach program and a new Delta research bulletin, instructing community members, organizations and officials on such research topics as technology and affordable housing.

"Given the current economic conditions faced in Arkansas, as well as across the country, we are very fortunate to have received funding from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation," says Director Susan Thomas. "This is a substantial grant, and it will allow the DRDC to expand operations and address the critical research and design issues facing east Arkansas."

Already familiar with the Delta after completing a summer workshop in Marianna, the UACDC saw that their location in Fayetteville was too far away to give the Delta the attention its communities and people deserved. In June 2001 after the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation awarded the UACDC a $96,000-grant to establish an outreach center in eastern Arkansas, the UACDC was able to create a physical presence in the Delta.

Together, the UACDC and WRF chose a new location for the DRDC in downtown Clarendon. Susan Thomas was hired as director, and in December she set up her office next to The Nature Conservancy in the renovated old Merchants and Planters Bank which will one day house a welcome and visitor's center for the community.

Since then, the DRDC has been working on such projects as producing a strategic and organizational plan for the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center, a nonprofit social organization started over 25 years ago providing a wide range of social services to the Marvell community.

In addition, during the spring, the DRDC, together with the Center for Business and Economic Research, presented the first annual Economic Development Seminar to community members in Marvell. Representatives from the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta and The Nature Conservancy also spoke at the event, which brought out elected state and local officials, representatives from community groups and representatives from the Arkansas Department of Economic Development.

But it is this second grant that is going to allow DRDC to set "reasonable, achievable goals and actively participate in the Delta change process," Thomas says.

"The Delta has suffered many federal and state programs which stopped and started," says UACDC Director David Glasser. "This breeds cynicism. Our intention is that this new Delta center will be a sustained effort thanks to these generous grants from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation."

While the DRDC is one of many University of Arkansas' outreach programs throughout the state, the center is unique in that it combines an interdisciplinary pedagogy and research with community development.

The School of Architecture, under the direction of its new dean, Jeff Shannon, is enthusiastic about sending more students to the Delta to help the region turn around.

"We are extremely grateful to the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation for allowing the Delta Research and Design Center to continue helping Delta communities," Shannon says.

However long and daunting their efforts may be, Thomas says the DRDC is committed to staying in the Delta as long as it takes to see long-term physical, economical and educational changes.

"Through the DRDC, the University of Arkansas has an incredible opportunity to reach out and make a difference for the people and communities of the Arkansas Delta," Thomas says. "As the director, I am grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for making this opportunity possible."

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation's grant will help the DRDC carry out the UACDC's mission (www.uark.edu/depts/uacdc/Mission.htm) as well as the following set of goals addressing social, economic and political issues specific to the Delta:

Promoting and developing interdisciplinary studies, research programs, outreach activities and community partnerships directed towards the people, culture, heritage and biological and physical environments of the Arkansas Delta.
Creating a learning community through forums, conferences and internships that gather, organize, disseminate and employ information and knowledge. The learning community will share ideas, information, best practices and tools about building the capacity of people and communities to increase economic opportunities.
Fostering partnerships between Arkansas Delta communities and relevant stakeholders in pursuit of: (1) capacity building and project grants and technical assistance, (2) support for expanding regional leadership and economic policy initiatives and (3) technical assistance and support networks for groups and organizations that work intensely with community based programs in the Delta region.
The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to improving the economic and social well being of Arkansas and its people. Created in 1974 by an endowment from the estate of Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, the Foundation has made gifts and grants of more than $62,000,000 to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.

For more information about how the DRDC or UACDC can help a community, visit the UACDC on-line at http://www.uark.edu/depts/uacdc/ or call 479-575-5772 (UACDC) or 870-747-5450 (DRDC).