This article reports the results of a formative evaluation of the first 4 years of the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research
Center (URC), a community-based participatory research partnership that was founded in 1995 with core funding from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several organizations are members of this partnership, including a university, six
community-based organizations, a city health department, a health care system, and CDC. The Detroit URC is a strong partnership
that has accomplished many of its goals, including the receipt of over $11 million in funding for 12 community-based participatory
research projects during its initial 4 years. Detroit URC Board members identified a number of facilitating factors for their
growth and achievements, such as (1) developing a sound infrastructure and set of processes for making decisions and working
together, (2) building trust among partners, (3) garnering committed and active leadership from community partners, and (4)
receiving support from CDC. Board members also identified a number of ongoing challenges, including organizational constraints,
time pressures, and balancing community interests in interventions and academic research needs. Overall, the Detroit URC represents
a partnership approach to identifying community health concerns and implementing potential solutions.
Keywords Coalitions - Community-based participatory research - Evaluation - Intervention research - Participatory action research