| Award for Excellence Winners |
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2006  Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP) Girard, Kansas http://www.sek-cap.com Mission: Unite staff, individuals, families, and community partners to provide quality, comprehensive services through compassionate, respectful relationships
Among the variety of innovative programs offered by SEK-CAP is the Creative Housing Opportunities - Innovative Childhood Education Services (CHOICES), a collaborative project that involved the renovation of old store front buildings and construction of new facilities to serve hundreds of families with children at one central location. Amenities at CHOICES include an early childhood learning center, family emergency shelters, disabilities services, private childcare, apartments, and a community park.
2005
Community Action Partnership Riverside County
Riverside, California http://www.capriverside.org
Mission: We, the Community Action Partnership Riverside County, with the community, will end poverty by offering opportunities for the poor through education, wealth building advocacy and capacity building.
Cap Riverside blends its 26 years of historical success with millennium vision to provide high-impact programs with a holistic approach to self-sufficiency. This includes bringing diverse groups of stakeholders together to end poverty with the initiation of Circles of Support and Guiding Coalitions. Circles of Support are groups of four to six neighbors who cluster around a family in poverty to provide support and encouragement to move out of poverty. Guiding Coalitions are larger groups of 12 to 20 community activists noted for getting things done in their community who will support the Circles of Support with community policy changes and resources. CAP Riverside has an extensive network of over 300 partner agencies countywide. It is also the lead agency that developed a statewide advisory network to provide training and technical assistance to 52 Community Action Agencies to bridge Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) programs with local asset-building programs.
CAP Riverside has taken an aggressive and bold approach to ending poverty in Riverside County in 30 years by adopting a Community Declaration. This document calls for economic opportunity and hope for all in Riverside County, thereby creating "Bliss County" - Riverside County without poverty. With a campaign, that combines marketing, community outreach, and public awareness, the Declaration expects to generate more than 5,000 signatures of "believers" by the end of 2005 . 2004 
Community Action Council of South Texas ~
A Catalyst for Positive Change
Rio Grande City, Texas
http://www.cacst.org Mission: The Community Action Council of South Texas will maintain a comprehensive human services network in Duval County, Jim Hogg County, Starr County, Zapata County, and other Texas counties geared to help people to become self-sufficient. To accomplish this, wewill work with public and private agencies to mobilize resources and build on the family values that make our communities strong.
The agency has organized its programs and services into the following divisions: Child Development, Health Services, Transportation, Community Services, Housing Services & Colonias Initiatives, Substance Abuse Services, Senior Citizen's Programs, Weatherization, Special Programs, and Youth Initiatives. Programs and services offered include Head Start, Early Head Start, Day Care, the Child Care Food Program, Energy Assistance, Migrant/Farm Worker Assistance, direct family support assistance, WIC, Immunizations, Maternal & Child Services, primary health care, Podiatry, Family Planning, Dental Services, home repair and rehabilitation, Homeownership counseling, fixed-route and demand-response taxi services known as "Rainbow Lines," Meals-On-Wheels, Adult Day Care Centers, Adult Nutrition Centers, Podemos!, heating and cooling assistance, and YouthBuild.
"A catalyst for positive change" - as the agency's vision statement says - CACST is a pillar of the community of South Texas, exemplary of what can be accomplished by committed people, longevity, perseverance, and efficient management. 
Fayette County Community Action Agency ~
Over 40 Years of Helping People and Changing Lives in Fayette County
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
http:www.fccaa.org
Mission: Our mission is to strengthen individuals and families to become more self-sufficient, achieving their potential by taking advantage of opportunities, improving the conditions in which they live, and taking ownership of their communityThe agency currently offers more than 70 programs and services in the areas of nutrition, case management, housing and energy assistance, education, vocational training, healthcare, dental services, senior centers, home delivered meals, in-home services for seniors, and senior housing. The agency also serves its clients in the areas of technology, housing development, and community development.
In the area of technology, the agency developed the Family Access Management System (FAMS), named as a USDA Best Practice. FAMS is a client tracking and case management software program currently used by more than 50 health and human service agencies.
FCCAA's hallmark community development project has been the revitalization of a deteriorating warehouse district that is now a state-of-the-art "one-stop shop" for health, human, and social services known as the Campus of Services. Buildings on the Campus are the Community Service Center, which houses the Uniontown Senior Center, the Family Service Center that is the agency's headquarters, the Food Bank and Warehouse along with Meadow Heights Apartments - a 60-unit elderly housing complex. In addition, the all of the agency's programs, the Campus of Services provides space for 20 additional health and human service agencies that are tenants. In order to address the agency's mission, values, direction, and performance expectations, every program at the agency is enriched through feedback from an advisory board, comprised largely of low-income constituents. Senior leaders then work with the agency's board of directors to meet the requests and changing needs of the community. Annually, the agency completes a Quality Review Process that focuses on goal achievement, accountability, customer service, development, facilities, and finances. Through this process, the agency understands the voices of clients, customers, constituents, and stakeholders in the community. Additionally, FCCAA is recognized in Pennsylvania and nationally for its leadership role in incorporating ROMA principles and practices into its management and services delivery systems. FCCAA is also responsible for seven additional corporations and entities, including a community development corporation, a housing development corporation, a loan fund, a medical and dental center, a training school, and a property holding company. In all, FCCAA manages more than $15 million annually. 2003 
Community Action Council of
Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison and Nicholas Counties Lexington, Kentucky http://www.commaction.org Mission: In carrying out its mission, Community Action Council will focus on: child development, family development, health, transportation services, safety net (emergency) services, self-sufficiency, housing, economic development, technology and volunteerism.
In 2001, the Council undertook a major restructuring that dismantled top-down "smoke stack" style program management and resulted in six urban and three rural centers to improve service delivery. Eighty percent of staff assumed new responsibilities and many were relocated. In just the first year of the restructuring, center advisory councils assumed leadership roles and provided guidance to each center; Council staff began engaging participants in new ways; new programs emerged; and existing programs took on characteristics that reflect local priorities.
 Little Dixie Community Action Agency Helping People,Changing Lives Mission: Helping People, Changing Lives
In 1968, three Community Action Agencies in Choctaw, McCurtain, and Pushmataha counties in Oklahoma merged. The geography and climate of southeastern Oklahoma resemble the Deep South, giving the area the nickname of “Little Dixie,” which was selected as the name for the new agency.
In 1994, Little Dixie led local communities through a strategic planning process that resulted in part of the area being designated a federal Enterprise Community. Over $70 million for area improvements resulted since EC designation in 1994. Tourism development, job creation, and other programs in the 1990s resulted in a nearly 20 percent decrease in poverty in Little Dixie’s service area between the 1990 and the 2000 Census. Little Dixie’s programs include: Economic Development, Business Lending, Entrepreneurship Development, Business Information Center, Technical and Management Assistance, Tourism Development, Transit, Head Start, Early Head Start, Affordable Housing, Self Help Assistance Resource Education, Court Appointed Special Advocate, Child and Adult Care Food Program, RSVP, Juvenile Restitution Program, and many others. 
Kahului, Hawaii http://www.meoinc.org Mission: The Mission is to help the low-income, elderly, children and youth, persons with disabilities, immigrants, other disadvantaged persons, and the general public to help themselves, so that they may become self-sufficient and enrich their lives.
MEO manages an array of services tailored to the needs of its customers, including the only quasi-public transportation program in Maui County, with vehicles running seven days a week up to 18 hours a day. MEO Head Start, an award-winning, nationally recognized program, provides services to 317 children through 15 centers countywide. The MEO Youth Bank provides opportunities for youth ages 14-26 to work, to learn, and to prepare for their future. The Being Empowered and Safe Together (BEST) Reintegration program reduces recidivism among former inmates at the Maui Community Correctional Center.
Community Services staff work with challenging situations in the lives of individuals, providing emergency assistance, job placement and training, and other support services. MEO Business Development Corporation is a Community Development Funding Institution created to access capital and provide loans to persons to start small businesses, thereby creating jobs and boosting the community's economy.
Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources, Inc. (SHARE)
Greenville, South Carolina http://www.sharesc.org Mission: The mission of SHARE is to help low-income individuals, families, and neighborhoods become self-sufficient. We serve families whose annual incomes are at or below the poverty level as defined by federal guidelines. Services are provided based on need and our ability to help, without regard to race, color, creed or gender.
With a capable staff of some 300 employees, SHARE administers 34 programs and services managed by a President/CEO and a five-member senior management team. Traditional programs of the agency include emergency assistance for households in crisis, employment training and improvement, early childhood education, and youth services. More programs that are non-traditional include non-traditional homeownership, micro-business development, parenting partnerships, and neighborhood revitalization/advocacy.
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