WEPIC given grant

Due to the success of the West Philadelphia Improvement Corps, the University has received a grant from the Dewitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to replicate the project at other schools. WEPIC tries to mold area schools into places where local students and adults can develop skills useful to their community. In addition, WEPIC develops projects assisting the community in education, job training, community improvement and recreational, cultural and service activities. Because of the positive response and results generated from the program, the University has received numerous requests to expand the program into other schools, according to the Center for Community Partnership. Joann Weeks, director of the WEPIC Replication Project, will work with other universities in developing a blueprint for each community it serves. In addition to providing advice and guidance, Weeks will make on-site visits to the burgeoning programs. Weeks said that each program will not be an exact replica of WEPIC but will be designed specifically for its environment. "Every university/city environment is different," said Ira Harkavy, director of the Center for Community Partnership and vice dean of SAS. "Detailed knowledge of each potential site must be obtained, and careful thought and analysis applied, in order for the program to lead to meaningful change in the public school, the university and the community, in other cities," he added. "Ira Harkavy's concept of university-school-community partnerships has become a model for such work," said Rosemary Stevens, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. "This grant will give us the opportunity to develop strategies to adopt our very successful program to the needs of other schools and locales." The Dewitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund administers grants to community service and educational programs nationwide. The fund contributed over $96 million last year to such projects.