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> About > Biography
Biography |  | |
Springfield Partners for Community Action is the federally designated Community Action Agency (CAA) for the greater Springfield area, serving about 10,000 low-income people annually.
Established in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act, Springfield Partners is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, SOMWBA-certified enterprise. The agency has 46 years of experience providing services and advocacy to alleviate the conditions of poverty for area residents.
Our mission is to partner with people and the community as a whole, in a way that leads to economic stability, so that we all enjoy a better quality of life.
We do this through education and outreach, and by offering programs to help people build assets, obtain affordable childcare, get free home weatherization and tax filing services, and much more.
To see all of the programs we offer, please click here.
Board of Directors
Springfield Partners has an 18-member tripartite board of directors. Six members are elected from the low-income community; six members represent the business community; and six members are appointed by the mayor and/or elected officials.
For a list of Board of Directors members, please click here.
Budget
Springfield Partners' annual budget is about $3 million. For the federal 2010 fiscal year, Springfield Partners received a one-time economic stimulus award of $8 million exclusively for home weatherization projects. Springfield Partners also received $800,000 in stimulus funding for programming aimed at literacy, early education, homelessness prevention, and nutrition.
Springfield Partners' largest funding source is a Community Service Block Grant, which is federal funding administered by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
Community Action: Ending Poverty by Creating Opportunity
Springfield Partners is one of 24 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) in Massachusetts providing services and advocacy to alleviate the conditions of poverty for area residents.
To learn more about CAAs in Massachusetts, please visit the Massachusetts Association for Community Action at www.masscap.org .
Nationally, there are 1,100 CAAs, which are represented by the nonprofit membership organization Community Action Partnership (www.communityactionpartnership.com).
Community Action Agencies are private non-profit or public organizations created by the federal Economic Opportunity Act in 1964 to combat poverty in geographically designated areas.
Community Action Agencies are unique because they reach out to low-income people in their communities and address their multiple needs through a comprehensive approach; most
poverty-related organizations focus on a specific area of need, such as job training or housing.
CAAs develop partnerships with other community organizations, involve low-income clients in the agency's operations, and administer a full range of coordinated programs designed to have a measurable impact on poverty.
CAAs respond quickly when a family or individual is in crisis to avoid costly long-term problems. The highest priority is placed on helping people achieve permanent self-sufficiency. In addition to emergency assistance, a major portion of Community Service Block Grant expenditures are for coordination among various programs.
This integrated service delivery means that "No door is the wrong door."
Springfield Partners and other CAAs embrace the practice of not turning away anyone seeking help; everyone who seeks assistance receives either a referral or direct assistance.
Source: The National Association for State Community Services Programs, Community Services Block Grant Statistical Report
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Bylaws
To download a PDF of Springfield Partners for Community Action's bylaws, please click on the link below.
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