Service organization celebrates 40 years with open house

Special to the Daily Mail

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency is celebrating 40 years of building stronger communities by stabilizing families in crisis and will be hosting open houses throughout its nine county service area and at its central office.

In Vernon County, an open house will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., July 21, at Vernon County Community Outreach, 1801 N. Osage, Nevada.

Forty years ago in July 1965 West Central Missouri Rural Development Corporation was designated by the Office of Economic Opportunity as a Community Action Agency as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. In 1990 the agency's name was changed to West Central Missouri Community Action Agency.

The WCMCAA service area includes Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Morgan, St. Clair and Vernon counties. In recent years, limited services have been provided in Barton, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, and Saline counties.

The WCMCAA employs approximately 492 full and part time employees with approximately 70 employees located in the central office in Appleton City. In the beginning, WCMCAA operated one contract with a total annual budget of $50,389. Today, the agency has an annual budget in excess of 19 million dollars.

Typical services provided by WCMCAA are job training, housing assistance, energy assistance, food distribution, emergency assistance, in-home services, family planning, counseling, home weatherization, early Head Start and Head Start.

All individuals or families served must meet the eligibility requirements as stated by each funding source.

The agency contracts with federal, state and local governments and businesses to provide opportunities for the disadvantaged.