2008 Economic Impact Awards Finalist, Charitable Organization of the Year: Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.

Service area

Serving Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties, OACAC employs approximately 500 people, most of them in the Head Start and Early Head Start programs targeting early childhood health and education, says OACAC Executive Director Carl Rosenkranz.

Head Start is required by law to have an in-kind match, either money or donated labor, and in-kind matches comprise $2.5 million of Head Start’s $10 million budget.

Having an impact

Overall, local donations of time and money account for almost $2.8 million of OACAC’s $24.8 million budget, $24.4 million of which goes to programs, services and direct assistance to low-income individuals.

OACAC has seven major programs and 68 locations in southwest Missouri, including 46 Head Start/Early Head Start locations, 10 Neighborhood Centers, 12 Family Planning clinics and the central office, which also houses the Weatherization program.

Neighborhood Centers, a point of entry for those who need services, provide family support, targeted coaching, workshops, emergency assistance, school readiness fairs and community projects.

Popular programs

Among OACAC’s recent success stories, the Foster Grandparents program, which brings together seniors and at-risk children, has just expanded by four counties: Douglas, Wright, Texas and Laclede, says Resource Development Director Matthew Evans.

Step Up to Leadership, a relatively new program offered in conjunction with University of Missouri Extension and Missouri Small Business Development Centers, trains participants to serve on community boards, Evans says.

Graduates of the 12-week course also can apply for smaller grants of $500 for community projects.

Missourians Building Assets, offered in Greene, Christian, Polk and Dallas counties, teaches participants how to budget and save, improve budgeting skills and improve credit scores, and participants are required to save $2,000 toward one of three goals: homeownership, starting or expanding a small business, or continuing their education, Evans says.

The participants’ $2,000 savings is matched by local organizations and the state, providing individuals up to $6,000 toward their goals.

Fiscal finagling

OACAC faces many challenges, including the fact that many of its programs – and the government sources that provide about 90 percent of its budget – operate on different fiscal years, Rosenkranz says.

“Sometimes, we don’t know the funding level until after the program starts,” he says.

The funding levels themselves are another challenge.

For example, “Head Start’s been flat-funded for the last six years,” Rosenkranz says.

Also, high fuel costs are making it hard for people to get to Neighborhood Centers to access services.

Raising awareness

But one of OACAC’s greatest challenges is to raise awareness, and it addresses that issue via the Poverty Simulation program.

Presented to groups including St. John’s, City Utilities, Springfield Catholic Schools and the Barry County Health Department, participants experience what a low-income family goes through just to survive day to day.

The goals are to create awareness and empathy, and through program participants, to initiate policy change within their various organizations.

Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.

Address: 215 S. Barnes Ave., Springfield, MO 65802

Web: www.oacac-caa.org

Employees: 500

2007 Budget: $24.8 million

Information accurate at the time of the honor.