EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Hal B. Goode, Executive Director
Coming up will be the National Community Action Month in May to highlight the critical role that Community Action Agencies play in helping low-income families achieve economic self-sufficiency. Community Action emerged from former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who fought poverty with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Johnson planned to improve the lives of all Americans. As inspired by President Kennedy, Johnson pledged to provide equal opportunity for everyone by making inclusive changes within the federal government.
Here’s our history, in August 1964, Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, a set of social initiatives designed to improve underprivileged Americans’ education, health, employment, and well-being. In the same year, the Economic Opportunity Act created Community Action Programs — to combat poverty — administered by Community Action Agencies, which are regional private and public non-profit organizations in the U.S. and its regions. Accordingly, Community Action Agencies were also part of Johnson’s War on Poverty. They make use of National Community Action Month to draw attention to the excellent initiatives that assist thousands of families in achieving self-sufficiency.
Community Action Programs provides residents, who are oblivious of the poverty in their communities, with an up-close and personal view of the difficulties low-income families face, as well as an understanding of how Community Action Programs can assist these families in achieving financial security. These individuals and families are constantly confronted with tremendous problems, and they have conquered numerous roadblocks. Instead of focusing on the past, Community Action Month encourages people to think about the future of the areas affected by poverty.
More to come…………………much more.