Community Action leads the way to developing innovative programs to meet the needs of Kentucky's Communities and reduce the effects of poverty. We work in the communities - whether they are farm lands, coal mines, plains, or city streets - to help individuals help themselves.
How does Community Action move individuals out of poverty?
There are many factors that cause people to live in poverty, and it requires a multi-faceted approach to solve. Individuals in poverty come in all ages and from all kinds of different backgrounds but they have one thing in common: They need help in breaking out of the vicious cycle of poverty.
For example, a single mother trying to raise children may find that she cannot afford to fix her car. She can't get to work and loses her job. The rent and the gas bill are due, but she buys food for her children instead. Now she has no heat and nowhere to live. How can we expect her children to get an education and not end up in the same situation as their mother?
Or take a construction worker suffers an injury and can't work. He does not have the skills to find another job that pays as well, and for the first time in his life finds himself unable to cover his bills. How will he afford training to get a new job to be self-sufficient?
Because poverty has many causes and there is usually not one way to solve it, Community Action tries to address all the needs of low income people to move them out of poverty.
In case of the single mother, a community action outreach worker may be able to provide her with some Emergency Food and Shelter while trying to set up a more permanent housing situation. The outreach worker can then also help her in attaining a job while helping with day care or transportation as needed, and if the children are in preschool age enroll them in the HeadStart program. As a team, the single mother and outreach worker can work together on other goals such as Budgeting to help the family not to end up in this situation again in the future.
In case of the construction worker, he will need assistance in employment training or education to allow them to move into another job field and once again become self-sufficient. He may need assistance in paying his rent or other bills in the meantime.
Each individual described above has different needs that Community Action addresses. In every community we serve, we work every day to help people change their lives.
What services does Community Action provide to move individuals out of poverty?
In Kentucky, Community Action responds to the following needs by providing:
Community Action is more than that, Community Action Kentucky represents low-income individuals on a local, state and national level to policy makers, public service commission and other groups. Community Action Kentucky also works with local Community Action Agencies to provide state wide programs such as Demand Side Management, Healthy Marriages and Earned Income Tax Credit Tax Preparation Services.
To see more success stories, click here.
To see how you can take action and help individuals in your community, click here.
To contact your local Community Action Agency Visit a listing of Kentucky's Community Action Agencies or call 1-800-456-3452.