PRINCESS ANNE, MD-(October 2019)-The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, along with another HBCU and a tribal college, were designated as Centers of Community Prosperity by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on October 22. The program is designed to increase the capacity of rural and underserved communities across the country.
The Centers will host Community Prosperity Training Summits and capacity-building workshops to assist communities engage in a bottom up, locally driven process to address challenges in their region, and foster hope, opportunity, wealth creation, and asset building. Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates, North Dakota and Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi join UMES as a designated Center.
Administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, the program stems from the White House Rural Prosperity Taskforce, chaired by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and the White House Executive Order on Establishing Communities of Faith and Opportunity.
The Centers will convene stakeholders including local, state, federal and tribal partners, land-grant universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, HBCUs, faith leaders, veterans, and youth organizations. To date, the USDA has worked with local partners to bring together some 1,000 institutional and community partners with USDA agencies and other federal agencies. These training opportunities have resulted in grants and leadership endowments to address community challenges such as improving regional food systems, veteran outreach, and combating substance abuse.
To learn more about or to attend a training summit, contact Alex Cordova at alex.cordova@usda.gov.
