OACAC continues fight against poverty

Founded: November 1965

Owner: Board of directors (501(c)3 private nonprofit agency)

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

Phone: (417) 862-4314

Fax: (417) 864-3499

Web site: www.oacac-caa.org

Services: Community action agency serving 10 counties

Annual budget: $21.5 million

Employees: 646 (445 full-time, 201 part-time)

Serving: 38,101 households

Facilities: 71, in 10 counties

For the past 40 years, the Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. has been working to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in the area.

The nonprofit organization’s activities have had a positive affect on both the local economy and the lives of thousands of people through such programs as Head Start, home weatherization, housing assistance and energy assistance.

Carl Rosenkranz joined OACAC in 1971 and became its fourth executive director in 1974. He said he has seen a lot of changes in the organization, and in the counties it serves, but the focus has remained the same.

“In 40 years we’ve evolved … and our mission is still to go out and help communities,” he said.

Tony DeLong, the president of the OACAC board of directors, has been involved in the OACAC mission since 1989. The organization appealed to him, he said, because it helps people in poverty become self-sufficient. He recounted the story of a homeless single mother with limited job skills who came to OACAC for help.

“Through OACAC services,” DeLong said, “and working with other agencies, that person now owns their own business, has completed their college education, and is doing extremely well.”

History

OACAC was formed in 1965 in response to President Lyndon Johnson’s Economic Act of 1964, which sought to combat the causes of unemployment and poverty in America.

Rosenkranz said that most of the organization’s funding --– about 78 percent – comes from federal appropriations and grants, while about 12 percent comes from state funding and about 10 percent from donations.

The organization offers services in 10 counties: Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster. Hickory County was originally covered by OACAC, but, due to a regional restructuring, was transferred to another agency in 1974.

Head Start became the organization’s first program in 1966 and continues to be the largest part of the annual budget, which is now more than $21 million.

In 1969 OACAC began installing local offices, known as neighborhood centers, in each county. There are now 71 facilities, including the organization’s main office in Springfield.

Over time, OACAC expanded to offer a family planning program in 1970, a foster grandparents program in 1972, home weatherization in 1974, housing assistance in 1975 and energy assistance in 2000.

Alisa Griffiths, a family resource specialist at OACAC, said most people come to the neighborhood centers for energy assistance. Her job, she said, is to find ways to solve clients’ short-term problems, as well as help them become self-sufficient.

“They typically come in for … something specific, usually a crisis issue that they want resolved immediately,” she said. “And through that intake process, we find out what’s going on in their lives, what their other problems are (and) where they’d like to go from here.”

Griffiths said most people are very receptive to programs that can help improve their education and employment opportunities.

“I think that’s really exciting,” she said. “I get a personal benefit out of working with a family and seeing them increase their options and opportunities – for them as well as their children.”

Raising money

Michelle Fittro, the resource development director, has worked to raise additional funds, beyond state and federal funding, to provide more services to more people. A recent bachelor auction raised $3,600, and an annual Christmas project raised over $10,000 last year toward dental care for Head Start children.

Fittro said most people are eager to help OACAC, but there have been challenges.

“One of the things we struggle with … that misconception about low-income individuals, that they’re just looking for a hand out,” she said. “We always try to give a hand-up, not a hand-out. We provide them the opportunity and we empower them to make decisions that are good for them.”

About 90 percent of the agency’s budget is spent in the Ozarks, Fittro said, through the employment of 646 people, the leasing of dozens of buildings and business with local vendors. But the positive economic effect of OACAC on its clients, in over 38,000 households, is hard to measure.

“Their goals are home ownership, education or small business,” Fittro said. “So they’re putting back into the community. They’re opening a small business, or they’re purchasing a home, which is great for the economic growth of their own communities.”

Heading into the future, Rosenkranz said the organization has been involved with studies to assess future needs. For example, as the Branson area grows, he said, the number of people below the poverty line will grow and affordable housing will become harder to find.

“We’ve been here 40 years, yes, you look back on your history and you address it, and I’ve been here for most of it,” he said. “But you also look at what you’re doing now and you have to look ahead … We’re going to see what are the ways we can help people.”

1962 – “The Other America,” written by Michael Harrington, outlines the poverty problem in America. In 1963, John F. Kennedy reads the book and is moved by its contents. He asks his economic advisors to begin work on an anti-poverty package. President Kennedy’s 1963 assassination ends his plans, but his vision is shared by his successor Lyndon Johnson.

1964 – The Economic Opportunities Act is passed with the purpose of eliminating poverty. It authorizes funding for Community Action Agencies.

Nov. 12, 1965 – Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. is organized as a nonprofit agency to help alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney, Webster, and Hickory counties in southwest Missouri. Later Hickory County transfers to another Community Action Agency.

1966 – The OACAC Head Start Program is established.

1969 – Neighborhood/Community Centers are established in each of OACAC’s 10 counties.

1970 – The OACAC Family Planning Program is established.

1972 – OACAC’s Foster Grandparent Program begins, serving elderly low-income seniors and at-risk children in Southwest Missouri

1974 – Weatherization program begins, completing 65 homes in the first year.

1974 – OACAC sponsors the Home Health Care program, which transfers to St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield on Sept. 1, 1982.

1975 – Community Food and Nutrition Program begins. Other programs include Home-bound Shoppers, Housing Assistance and Commodity Food Distribution.

1980 – OACAC Central Office opens in the Pythian Castle in Springfield.

1993 – OACAC Central Office moves to its current location, 215 S. Barnes Ave.

2003 – The Energy Assistance Program transfers from Family Support Division to the Community Action Agencies.