About KACAP

 

WHAT IS KACAP?

KACAP is the state association for Community Action Agencies in Kansas. Initially formed in 1968, KACAP has long been a forum for Kansas CAAs to work together on issues of concern to low-income people in our State. Examples of the Association's accomplishments include statewide poverty-focused conferences, coordination of asset-development informational forums in Kansas, production of pertinent poverty-focused reports, and coordination of an outcomes-based model for Kansas' community action agencies.

KACAP's eligible membership currently includes Kansas' the Executive Directors and one key staff member from each of Kansas' Community Action Agencies. Together, these individuals comprise the KACAP volunteer Board of Directors. 

The KACAP Executive Director is Tawny Stottlemire. Ms. Stottlemire has been a non-profit manager for almost twenty years, and spent nine years as the Deputy Director of the Community Action Agency in Topeka. She currently serves as the President of the Region VII Association of Community Action Agencies, is a Certified Community Action Professional, and has worked closely with national, state and local organizations to address and eliminate poverty in Kansas.

In addition to Ms. Stottlemire, KACAP employs two other full time staff: Sarah Gannon (Executive Assistant) and Tiffany Jarvis (Project Coordinator)

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY?

The Community Action movement began in 1964 as part of President Johnson's War on Poverty. Today, there are over 1,000 Community Action Agencies nationwide providing a variety of targeted, community-oriented services and solutions for low-income Americans.  

There are six Community Action Agencies in Kansas that belong to KACAP.  All of our member agencies are private, not-for-profit organizations funded from a variety of resources, including Federal, State, and Local governments, as well as private foundations and donations.  A core source of CAA funding is the Community Services Block Grant  (CSBG), which is authorized by Congress and administered by the federal Department of Health and Human Services through the Office of Community Services. CSBG administration in Kansas is the responsibility of the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation. CSBG receipts to the State total approximately $5,000,000 annually. 

To find the Community Action Agency that provides services to your area, please click here.

Visit the KS Housing Resources Corp website                  Email the KS Housing Resources Corp

COMMUNITY ACTION IN ACTION

~ America's Poverty Fighting Network ~   

If you are poor in Kansas, your Community Action Agency can assist you in identifying programs and services that can provide real opportunities for personal growth and strengthening of families and communities. Community Action Agencies blend federal, state and local resources into programs addressing locally-identified causes of unemployment, inadequate education, homelessness, malnutrition and other poverty conditions.

Here are some of the programs offered by Kansas’s Community Action Agencies:

• Job Training, Job Development, and Employment Assistance
• Educational Assistance and Guidance, GEDs, ESL, and college scholarships
• Income Counseling and Guidance
• Housing Development and Assistance Locating and Securing Housing
• Emergency Assistance
• Hunger Prevention and Nutritional Education, and Food Banks
• Transportation
• Weatherization and Emergency Home Repairs
• Head Start and Early Head Start programs
• Community Coordination and Advocacy for Low-Income and Poverty Issues

Please note that each Community Action Agency is different. Services and programs are tailored to help meet the needs of the community where the agency is located. To learn more about Community Action services available in your community, please click here.

~ HELPING PEOPLE, CHANGING LIVES ~

QUALITY SERVICES

Providing appropriate and effective attention to the problems facing Kansas' low-income/poverty level citizens is a priority for KACAP member agencies. Each Community Action Agency works with the unique conditions of the communities they serve to identify and address specific causes of unemployment, inadequate education, inadequate housing or homelessness, malnutrition and other poverty conditions.

Community Action Agencies are flexible in program design and operation to enable local needs to be met. Service systems are designed to function in both rural and urban settings and use local resources to met low income needs.

For more information about KACAP, contact;

Tawny Stottlemire, KACAP Executive Director
621 SE Swygart
Topeka, Kansas 66607

Phone: (785) 234-0878
FAX: (785) 234-1652

Or E-mail Tawny at   tawny@kacap.org 

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