Hundreds of individuals support the Neighborhood Partnership, including local residents, faculty, students, alumni and trustees. University trustee John Mack and his wife, Christy, donated $500,000. Trustee Morris Williams also gave $500,000 .

"It made me proud to see the kind of work Duke was doing in the schools and in the lower-income neighborhoods, often in conjunction with neighborhood churches," said Williams, the son of a Methodist minister. "I think the efforts to increase quality affordable housing and to provide children with better, more positive alternatives in life are particularly needed in this day and age."