History
The Capital Area Community Action Agency, Inc. (Community Action), is a private non-profit organization-501(c)(3) created in 1965 as the Leon County-Tallahassee Community Action Program to serve only Leon County residents. In 1980, it assumed sponsorship of antipoverty programs in Gadsden, Jefferson, Calhoun, Liberty, Franklin and a portion of Gulf Counties. The name was then changed to compliment the expanded service area. In 2010, service was extended to include all of Gulf County. Wakulla was the last county to be added to the Capital Area Community Action Area service area.
The Board of Directors is the governing body for the agency, and the Chief Executive Officer heads up the staff. The board members are volunteers who are either elected or appointed to represent the public, private and low income sectors of the population. There is equitable distribution of representation of private businesses, governmental and community – based agencies, and the low-income community.
Mission
Our Mission is to provide a comprehensive, seamless system of services and resources to reduce the detrimental effects of poverty, empower low-income citizens with skills and motivation to become self-sufficient, and improve the overall quality of their lives, and our community.
Message From Our Chief Executive Officer
Welcome to the Capital Area Community Action Agency! Since 1965, this agency has worked hard to provide a safety net for our community’s poor. One of 1,000 community action agencies in the country, we are the boots on the ground to help people in crisis when they have trouble making ends meet while assisting those in poverty who want to become independent of government assistance.
Capital Area is ready to assist those eligible families who need help paying their electric bills or finding stable housing. The Agency can help eligible clients weatherize their homes so residents can better afford food or medicine.
For young children from low-income families, Head Start is an incredible preschool program to get students ready for kindergarten. Head Start offers free medical care to kids. Family Advocates work with the parents to help them achieve more financial independence.
The Getting Ahead program works with individuals and families who have made the decision that they no longer want to live in poverty. The Agency’s curriculum assists clients in better understanding the causes of poverty, setting life goals and providing support to help them work out of poverty to a life that is thriving.
Our community is only as strong as the weakest among us. Nearly a quarter of all residents in our eight-county service area live in poverty. This greatly exceeds the state and national poverty rates. We must and can do better.
Please call if you’d like to know more about the Agency and how you can get involved with helping low-income individuals become independent.
2022 Community Needs Assessment
Click here for the latest plan and assessment-2022 Strategic Plan and Community Assessment
Single Audit Act
- 2021 Single Audit
- 2020 Single Audit
- Tim Center
Read our 2015 insert in the Tallahassee Democrat!
Read our 2014 insert in the Tallahassee Democrat!
