About Great Lakes Community Action Partnership
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Congress of the United States proclaimed a national "War on Poverty" by enacting the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
President Johnson solidified his commitment to forging new opportunities for the poor in the United States by mobilizing financial and human resources to eliminate poverty.
To assist in fighting his "War on Poverty", local Community Action Agencies were created to provide a wide range of human services at the community level to help individuals build self-sufficiency and rise out of poverty.
This act described the purpose, structure, and financing of Community Action Agencies (CAA) in the United States. CAAs are locally controlled organizations whose purpose is to reduce poverty and to help low-income people become self-sufficient. They are governed by a tripartite board of directors composed of no less than 15 and no more than 51 members.
WSOS is a private, nonprofit Community Action Agency. The core funding for CAAs comes from the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), which was created in 1981 by the Omnibus Reconciliation Act. CSBG funding provides less than eight percent (8%) of total CA funding. WSOS is one of 52 CAAs in Ohio and one of about 1,000 CAAs nationwide. WSOS provides services to income-eligible individuals and families of all ages.