Virginia Commonwealth University has implemented a “”Carver First”" hiring policy to train and hire residents from the Carver community for permanent employment positions with the university. It also looks to Carver when purchasing goods and services for the school.

It has partnered with the Richmond City public school system, the city of Richmond, and a Carver non-profit. It is financially supported by CDBG monies, a $400,000 Community Outreach Partnership Grant, and the United Way.

Excerpted from the Brookings Institute Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy’s “”Urban Universities and their Role in Central City Economies”", December 1997