Expanding projects is one of three parts to the Community Action Partnership of North Central Missouri’s strategic plan for the next few years.
Executive Director Chris Small reports that, at a national level, Community Action has always focused on helping individuals and families. He explains that, in the last five to eight years, there has been a strategic focus at the national level on community building and asset mapping to explore what the assets are of a community and what Community Action’s role is in helping communities expand.
He says there is a connection of four agencies in northern Missouri called the Northern Alliance. That includes the Community Action Partnership of North Central Missouri based in Trenton, the Community Action Partnership of Northeast Missouri based in Kirksville, the Community Action Partnership of Greater Saint Joseph, and Community Services, Incorporated based in Maryville.
Small notes Community Action is looking at a project that is more regionally based and can make an impact across the region. It is exploring, through various funding sources, a microlending program, which is a tiered approach to homeownership.
Smith says Community Action is also exploring how it can be more facilitative or how it can lead the charge to partner with other home-building agencies, such as Habitat for Humanity, to get homeownership within reach of individuals who would otherwise not have that option.
The other two parts of CAPNCM’s strategic plan are building resources and improving education and communication.
Small acknowledges that the items on the plan will not happen overnight and will take time.
One of those things, Small mentions, is CAPNCM would like to become a leader in helping individuals look at options with sustainable energy, whether it is solar or some other kind. He says the agency does not currently have a person or people with that expertise or skill set, but he would like to go in that direction.
Small would also like to see ways to generate more revenues that might include expanding Women’s Health Services to some type of medical or dental clinic. CAPNCM could partner with Northwest Health.
More information on the Community Action Partnership of North Central Missouri can be obtained by calling 660-359-3907 or visiting the CAPNCM website.
