CAC in Knoxville and Knox County joins with over 1,000 other Community Action Agencies across the nation in “Helping People and Changing Lives.” Community Action Agencies promote self-sufficiency and independent living through intervention, education and empowerment.

Community Action agencies serve 96% of our nation’s counties. They are the primary support for the 34.5 million people who are living in poverty in the United States. The majority of Community Action agency participants are extremely poor, with incomes below 75% of the federal poverty threshold, or $9,735 for a family of three (the average family size for the client population).

Each Community Action Agency organizes to meet the unique needs of its particular community, but here are some areas that most agencies serve in: Education through Head Start, adult education classes, youth mentoring and literacy; Food and Nutrition with Mobile Meals, congregate feeding, food banks and community gardens; Family Self-Sufficiency Development through case management, employment and training and job creation; Neighborhood Improvement by promoting citizen participation, neighborhood and community organization and vital information and referral; Emergency Assistance with food, heat or cooling, homelessness or domestic violence issues.

All Community Action Agencies are governed by a diverse board made up of 1/3 from the low income community who is served by the agency, 1/3 by public officials and 1/3 may be from the private sector.

 

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