Community
Action was born with the
Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) of 1964. The purpose of this ambitious
legislation was to eliminate the causes and consequences of poverty in
the America by establishing a federal Office of Economic Opportunity.
Today
there are over 1, I 00 community-based organizations called Community
Action Agencies (CAA’s) throughout the country. CAAs serve nearly 1
million low-income people yearly in 96 percent of the nation's counties.
The
Anne Arundel County Economic Opportunity Committee, Inc. (AACEOC, Inc.),
is the government’s officially designated local CAA. As your Community
Action Agency, we work to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of
lower-income families throughout the county.
First, CAAs identify specific needs of clients and their
communities, then design opportunities and programs to meet those needs,
encouraging innovative responses to both persistent problems and new
challenges. Rather than promoting dependence on welfare and other forms
of government assistance, CAAs foster self-sufficiency and independence
for the people they serve.
Like
all the other CAA’s in the United States, we are funded through the
Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). In order to maintain full
accountability to the public-at-large, we participate in a nationwide
reporting system created and sustained by the Maryland Department of
Housing and Community Development. |
