Community Action was created with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) of 1964 as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty." The ambitious purpose of this statute was to eliminate the causes and consequences of poverty in the United States. The act established a federal Office of Economic Opportunity and created organizations called Community Action Agencies (CAAs) that would develop strategies to solve local issues of poverty.
Thus, the Community Action movement became a part of national policy "to eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty by opening to everyone the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity."
The Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency (CAA) was chartered during that historic year. Today, CAA has a $35 million operating and program budget, nearly 300 employees, and a 21-member board.
The Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency is proud to be a part of Community Action Partnership a national association that represents the interests of the nearly 1,000 CAAs across the country, all devoted to ending poverty and empowering people to better their lives.
