Community Action is about putting communities at the heart of their own local services. Involving communities in the design and delivery of services can help to achieve a number of objectives, including: Building community and social capacity - helping the community share knowledge; Community resilience - helping the community help itself; Prevention - a focus on early access to services or support, engagement in design, cross-sector collaboration and partnerships; and Maintaining and creating wealth - such as helping people into employment or developing community enterprises.
Community Action changes people's lives, embodies the spirit of hope, improves communities and makes America a better place to live. We care about the entire community, and we are dedicated to helping people help themselves and each other.
Community Action Agencies are local nonprofits working to improve the lives of low-income residents through increased self-sufficiency and community participation. CAA's serve all 77 counties in Oklahoma. CAA's were established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 to fight America's War on Poverty.
- Community Coordination: Citizen participation, neighborhood and community organization, information and referrals
- Education: Head Start, literacy, adult basic education
- Economic Development: Loans, business planning assistance
- Emergency Services: Food pantries, energy assistance, homeless shelters, natural disaster assistance
- Employment Training: Job training, placement, and creation
- Food and Nutrition: Meals on wheels, congregate meals for elderly, food banks
- Health Care: Health clinics, prescription assistance, transportation to health care assistance, treatment for substance abuse
- Housing: Homebuyer counseling, self-help housing construction, rental assistance
- Income Management: Individual Development Accounts, budget counseling, tax counseling
- Transportation: Bus service, transportation to jobs, and school
OKACAA is the state association of Oklahoma's Community Action Agencies. We are governed by the Executive Directors of each of our member CAA's. We exist to further the mission of Community Action by providing training and conferences for community action staff across the state, advocating for policies that benefit community action agencies, staff, and clients at the state and federal level, and providing opportunities for CAA's to meet and share best practices. We include the Oklahoma Head Start Collaboration Office and the Oklahoma Weatherization Training Center.
Amanda Ewing, Executive Director
executivedirector@okacaa.org
Paula Brown, Head Start Collaboration Office Director
headstart@okacaa.org
Karla Benford, Office & Programs Manager
programs@okacaa.org
Janay Davis, Administrative Assistant
assistant@okacaa.org
Zoe Campbell, Program Coordinator
headstartassist@okacaa.org
Keith Huggins, Director of Oklahoma Weatherization Training Center
wx@okacaa.org
Christie Baldridge - Deep Fork Community Action Foundation, Inc., Executive Director
Johnny Bryant - United Community Action Program, Inc., Executive Director
Cheri Ezzell - Community Development Support Association, Executive Director
Carla Flynn - Opportunities, Inc., Executive Director
Ingrid Gifford - Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group, Executive Director
Carroll Huggins - KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Inc., Executive Director
Liane Howell - Washita Valley Community Action Council, Executive Director
Tracy Izell - Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency, Executive Director
Karol May- Community Action Resource & Development, Inc., Executive Director
Leslea Hixson - Community Action Development Corporation, Executive Director
Karen Nichols - Delta Community Action Foundation, Inc., Executive Director
Rebecca Porter - LIFT Community Action Agency, Inc., Executive Director
Jessie Thompson - Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties, Executive Director
John Ann Thompson - Northeast Oklahoma Community Action Agency, Executive Director
Erica Pogue - INCA Community Services, Inc., Executive Director
Kent Watson - Big Five Community Servics, Inc., Executive Director (Board President)