HUD's 5th ANNUAL FATHER'S DAY event, celebrated throughout June, is designed to provide opportunities to engage low income populations that need job training, education and referrals for positions that your offices are experts in providing.

The Partnership has signed on as a Servicing Organizations/Partner wit HUD nd we hope that your CAA will consider getting involved! There are 5 key areas: health, wealth, education, job training and corporate/government support, which are identified as critical resources to help them become better father's benefiting both their children, families and communities. 

  

This is your opportunity to engage the community and help HUD accomplish Strategic Goal #3 "To use housing as a platform to improve the quality of life for its residents."ation.

CAAs can work with their local Housing Authority through his project to ensure fathers have access to the resources they need to thrive.

On May 20, legislation was introduced by Congressman Danny Davis, Congressman Gerry Connolly, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee to establish a national child poverty target in the US. The Child Reduction Act of 2015 (HR 2408) would set a goal to cut child poverty in half in 10 years and eliminate it within 20 years, as well as:

To learn more about this legislation, click here.

A compelling personal story is worth 100 statistics. Personal experiences can help move hearts and minds and create urgency to protect and strengthen vital nutrition programs.

This webinar will show you everything you need to record or document someone's story, tell your own, and get important voices heard.

REGISTER NOW!

Together, our voices will help protect and strengthen the critical nutrition programs that we know are vital for families and individuals in America.

SNAP, school lunch, summer meals and other nutrition assistance programs are all essential to ensuring millions of low-income families can get the nutrition they need when they fall on hard times.  Yet these programs and the people they serve are not always well understood by both the public and elected officials. We have seen proposals to cut or restrict access to nutrition assistance programs arise in Congress and in statehouses across the nation. With Congress due to reauthorize Child Nutrition programs like WIC, school lunch and breakfast, summer meals and afterschool and child care feeding programs, now is the time to build upon success and make additional gains to ensure all of our children have access to the healthy food they need to grow and thrive.

You can help us educate our policy makers by taking part in our new campaign, "Community Voices: Why Nutrition Assistance Matters." If you, your neighbors, churchgoers, or clients have been helped by public nutrition programs, get practical tips on how to share your experiences effectively.  You are the experts on these programs. Help us educate Congress about how they are really working. Several people who take part in the campaign will have a chance at coming to Washington, DC for a day of action, meeting officials, media and advocates to share their message.

The Center for American Progress, Food Research and Action Center, Feeding America, the Coalition on Human Needs and Witnesses to Hunger are partnering to launch this campaign to gather and share personal experiences from across the country.  When you share your story, we'll help connect you with opportunities to take action with the media and policymakers.  Learn all about how to participate, practical tips for interviewing storytellers, and why capturing true experiences are so important during our kickoff webinar Wednesday, June 3, 2:00 p.m. ET.  We will also be releasing a new campaign toolkit at the webinar. Register Today.

Financial coaching provides an open dialogue on a variety of financial issues and challenges that people face. This goes beyond solely delivering financial education and allows people to develop skills and learn about resources for them to confront future financial challenges and decisions.

The focus on the client's self-defined goals is central to financial coaching. Learn more and have your questions answered by the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Financial Clinic. Register and submit your questions for the June 1st 2pm ET virtual  interview here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7422539482755381249

The NEW Summer Meal flyers are now available online.  As a reminder, USDA's Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) feeds children who may otherwise go hungry when school is out.  During the regular school year some 21.4 million needy children receive a school lunch at little or no cost to their household.  In some cases this is the child's main meal of the day.  However, when summer arrives and school is no longer in session, the number of children participating in a federal food assistance program drops dramatically, to approximately 3.8 million, and we're trying to close that gap.  Could you help by getting the word out that there are meals available?   The flyer can be found at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/sfsp/Summer_Flyer_En_508.pdf. Other flyers, including one in Spanish, can be found at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/raise-awareness 

The summer meals flyer provides a toll-free number to help connect parents and children to a site near them that serves summer meals.  Either you, or other organizations can promote the program by hanging up signs, sending out emails with information, sending letters, and letting families know about the Program.  We know your members are very involved with their community.  Perhaps they could distribute them at farmers' markets, food banks, or community gardens.

Help Children and Teens Get the Health Coverage They Need

 

 

 

During this year's open enrollment season, millions of families signed up for free or low-cost health insurance through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). However, there are still millions more children and teens across the country who are uninsured but eligible for coverage. And in states that have expanded Medicaid, many more parents - and other family members - may now qualify as well. We want to keep the momentum going! Help reach eligible families by joining with the Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign, a nationwide effort to spread the word about Medicaid and CHIP and get eligible children and teens enrolled. This is also a great way to remind families that enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP is open year-round.

  

Click here for complete information on how to get involved.

1. Joint Opening Message from OCS and HUD
2. Overview of the McKinney-Vento program and how effective partnerships can be made with CSBG partners by the National Alliance to End Homelessness
3. Testimonials of family homelessness efforts on the local level from CAAs.

REGISTER HERE

 

• Purchase a first home;
• Capitalize or expand a business for self-employment; or
• Fund post-secondary education or training.

The Community Action Partnership is excited to announce the re-launch of its Pathways to Excellence Initiative.  Pathways is the Partnership's premier organizational capacity building initiative.  Pathways uses 35 Standards of Excellence that define the very best practices for Community Action Agencies.  Just as the new CSBG organizational standards developed by the Center of Excellence in collaboration with the Community Action Network define the basic minimum requirements an agency must meet, the Standards of Excellence represent the highest level of management and operational performance to which an agency can aspire.

 A webinar that describes the Pathways process in more detail will be held on Thursday, April 23rd at 1:00 EST.  Register here to attend the webinar.  More information about Pathways, enrollment costs, and the application form are accessible on the Partnership's website here.

August 24-25, 2015

What have you done for Community Action Month this May?
Share your celebration with the Partnership and the Network.  Send photos, events, and success stories so that we can highlight your work in The Promise!
Send materials to nkramer@communityactionpartnership.com and join the conversation online at #BeCommunityAction