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The DSCEJ has developed and embraces a model for community partnership that is called "communiversity". This model emphasizes a collaborative management or partnership between universities and communities. The partnership promotes bilateral understanding and mutual respect between community residents and academicians. In the past, collaborative problem-solving attempts that included community residents and academicians were one-sided in terms of who controlled the dynamics of the interaction between the two, who was perceived as knowledgeable, and who was benefited. The essence of this approach is an acknowledgment that for effective research and policy-making, valuable community life experiences regarding environmental insult must be integrated with the theoretical knowledge of academic educators and researchers. Either group alone is less able to accomplish the goal of achieving environmental equity, but the coming together of the two in a non-threatening forum can encourage significant strides toward solutions. The DSCEJ has advanced the communiversity model with the formation of the Mississippi River Avatar Community Advisory Board (CAB). The board consists of representatives from grassroots organizations and leaders of affected communities in the corridor. The Center has been involved in valuable environmental research aimed at providing technical assistance. Additionally, the Center has developed environmental justice education curriculum infusion modules that New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) teachers in grades kindergarten through 6th were trained to incorporate across disciplines into their teaching. We trained over 200 elementary teachers to implement these curriculum modules and disseminated curriculum guides to sixty-two NOPS schools in the greater New Orleans area. The DSCEJ provides educational seminars to college-level students and integrates student interns and workers into its programs, research, and community outreach. Toward that end, the Center sponsors Environmental Justice clubs on university campuses and supports their projects. The DSCEJ has gained a considerable reputation in the field of hazardous waste worker training. Over the past twelve years, in partnership with the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, the DSCEJ has forged a new, culturally sensitive training model designed to meet the specific needs of urban city youth living in environmentally contaminated communities through the implementation of Minority Worker Training Programs and Brownfields Minority Worker Training Programs in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, LA; Biloxi/Gulfport, MS; West Dallas, TX; Atlanta, East Point, and Savannah, GA, and Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, FL. The center has also implemented worker training under two-year grants with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Labor, and under a two-year contract with the US Corps of Engineers. In the upcoming year, minority worker training programs will be implemented in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Savannah and Detroit, MI. The DSCEJ has worked with two military communities in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. This project was designed to strengthen the ability of communities living in close proximity to military bases to participate effectively in environmental restoration decisions. The project resulted in greater knowledge and participation in local Restoration Advisory Boards (RAB) and the election of several community residents to a local RAB. Since its inception in 1992, the DSCEJ has implemented numerous grants in the areas of research, capacity building, and education and training. Projects have been conducted in the areas of community assistance and education, research and policy, and primary, secondary, and university education. In its long-standing history of providing service to communities that have sustained negative environmental impact, the DSCEJ has continued to forge ahead, training communities and building capacity. In the Post Katrina era, the Center has directed its programmatic components and research efforts toward finding solutions and providing technical assistance for community residents along the Gulf Coast. Community projects specifically directed toward clean up and rebuilding and worker training programs for displaced residents represent the Center's first efforts in what is intended to be a long term investment in the restoration of the devastated communities.