By Nadia Ramlagan
Public News Service
This week marks the 60th anniversary of landmark anti-poverty legislation.
The Economic Opportunity Act created a network of Community Action Agencies providing critical services to low-income Kentuckians in all 120 counties. It also expanded Social Security benefits and creation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance and Head Start programs.
Rick Baker, executive director of Community Action Kentucky, said agencies are unique for their wide reach and the number of services they provide.
“No other organization has that ability to provide services directly, locally from birth, literally all the way through senior citizens,” Baker outlined. “Through the Head Start programs, through energy assistance programs, through workforce programs.”
More than 2,000 Kentuckians have obtained employment through their local agency, and more than 450 have received a workforce credential or certificate.
Denise Harlow, CEO of the National Community Action Partnership, said poverty affects social determinants of health the agencies work to improve.
“We know that the research tells us you can live a couple miles apart from each other but have a 20-year differential in life expectancy,” Harlow pointed out.
Baker added all residents, not just low-income households, benefit from resources provided by Community Action Agencies.
“Like public transportation, domestic violence programs, a lot of them operate domestic violence shelters,” Baker explained. “It’s very important to know who your local Community Action Agency is.”
According to census data, nearly 40 million Americans still live in poverty and many more are one missed paycheck away from financial hardship. The nation’s child poverty rate more than doubled between 2021 and 2022.