Capture the spirit of Community Action in a Video!

Purpose:
As part of its leadership development strategy, the Partnership’s Board of Directors has created the Emerging Leaders (EL) Task Force under the guidance of Board member Deborah Blanks, CEO of the Social Development Commission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Composed of Community Action professionals across the country, this Task Force has been instrumental in planning the exciting EL track being offered at the Partnership’s Annual Conference in Boston, August 31 – September 3, 2010.

The Task Force is interested in engaging the Emerging Leaders in a video project depicting “Community Action through My Eyes”. We will combine the videos received from Community Action agencies throughout the country into a product that will be showcased at the Partnership’s 2010 Annual Conference

The Emerging Leaders Video Project is aimed at promoting the engagement of
the Emerging Leaders by offering the opportunity to highlight their
Community Action efforts in their local area

Design:
To maintain the intent of engaging the Emerging Leaders group, we will ask for video submissions from those people that will be attending the Emerging Leaders series to be presented at the Partnership’s 2010 Annual Conference.
Please Note: This project is not intended to collect the standard public relations pieces put forth by organizations; the intent is to collect unique and innovative perspectives on Community Action.

Each video should be no longer than 3 minutes in length – short videos are welcome!

Should you wish to submit video for inclusion in the final project – please answer the following questions:

• What about Community Action are you most proud of?
• How is Community Action relevant in today’s political & economic climate?
• What is the greatest challenge facing Community Action in the next 10 years?
• Why are you committed to the Promise of Community Action?
• Optional: Footage of you stating the Promise of Community Action.
We will create a single video incorporating much of the submitted footage accompanied by music and appropriate imagery as a final product. No footage will be kept intact or returned to participants.

To Submit A Video:
Submittal of a video is easy. Follow this link to upload and send your video: https://dropbox.yousendit.com/EmergingLeadersVideoProject

Timeline:
By June 15, 2010 – Please indicate your interest in participating by sending an email to amber.twitchell@chdcorp.org

By July 30, 2010 - Please submit all videos for inclusion in the Emerging Leaders Video Project.

For Additional Information:
Please contact Amber Twitchell, of California Human Development and the Partnership’s Emerging Leaders Task Force at 707-570-7769 or amber.twitchell@chdcorp.org for additional information and/or with any questions.

The Community Action Partnership, along with national and state organizations, is joining forces with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and co-sponsoring their second annual blog day in celebration of Older American’s Month. The goal is to provide advocates—including CAAs—and concerned citizens with an opportunity to be represented in the conversation about what matters when it comes to the budget of all Americans—young and old.

This year’s blog day on Wednesday, May 26 will feature the theme “America’s Budget Matters (So Does Yours),” and will be held on the day of the next meeting of President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

You can participate in this important discussion by blogging your responses to the following questions:

• What can President Obama and Congress do to help Americans be economically secure while balancing the budget?

• What do President Obama and Congress need to know about your budget—or that of those you represent?

WOW has created tools and resources to help you join in the blogging event, including guidelines for writing up blog posts and/or comments and information on how to participate via Facebook and Twitter. For more information, go to http://www.wowonline.org/budgetmatters/

Thanks to our great colleagues at WOW for spearheading such a critical initiative!

If Congress does not act to extend the current levels for the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, then:

• A family with a parent working full-time at the minimum wage receiving a $1,750 Child tax Credit for 2009 will lose $1,500.
• Working families with 3 or more children will lose up to $629 in their Earned Incomer Tax Credit.
• Low-income students will lose up to $1,000 to help with their college expenses.

The Partnership is especially encouraging Community Action Agencies and their respective State Associations to consider this request from the Coalition on Human Needs to sign on a letter to Congress by May 21st.

There's still time to sign on to the Coalition on Human Need's tax credits letter. The letter-first featured in our April 19 Enews-is in support of the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit (for low-income college students), and will be sent to all House Members and Senators.

The national office of the Community Action Partnership has already signed the letter, but CHN is also looking for local Community Action Agencies and state CAA associations to sign on as well. The more groups that sign on, the greater chance of enacting policies that will significantly help working low-income families and individuals weather these tough economic times
.
The deadline for signing is May 21. Links to the letter and how to sign on appear below. Thanks in advance for helping to support low-income families.

To see the letter, CLICK HERE.
To sign the letter, CLICK HERE.

We are seeking local, state, and national organizations to sign this letter, which will be sent to every Representative and Senator in Congress. Congregations, service providers, labor, civil rights, social action, policy, and advocacy groups - we need you!

Free assistance for taxpayers

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Programs offer free tax help for taxpayers who qualify.

Eligible entities within the Community Services Block Grant network may apply to the IRS to serve as VITA or TCE sites.

Information on the 2011 VITA/TCE Grant is now available and outlines the new opportunity to apply for multi-year grants! Applications will be accepted from June 1 through July 9, 2010 for the $12 Million Grant program.

Publication 4680 - Grant Programs (TCE & VITA) is now posted to irs.gov at the following link. The publication contains the FY2011 grant timelines, objectives of each grant, eligibility criteria of each, and information on the opportunity to apply for multi-year grants.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4680.pdf

The CSBG and SSBG networks are encouraged, if possible, to begin preparing now for the open application period which begins June 1 and closes July 9, 2010. Application packages will be available late May.

Contacts:

Beckie Harrell
IRS SPEC
Senior Tax Analyst
Phone: 404.338.8325 Fax:404.338.8363
rebecca.harrell@irs.gov

Robin Taylor
Chief, Grant Program Office
IRS Stakeholder Partnerships, Education & Communication
401 West Peachtree Street NW - Stop 52-WI; Atlanta, GA 30308
Phone 404.338.7174 Fax 404.338.7646
Robin.Taylor@irs.gov

 

The Community Action Partnership is committed to reducing poverty and promoting economic security for all in America. The hunger (“food insecurity”) statistics are truly frightening. One in every four American kids will receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, nee Food Stamps) sometime during their lives. Eight out of ten African-American children will receive SNAP food and resources. With appreciation to Jim Weill and Ellen Teller at the Food Research and Action Center, the Partnership encourages agencies and groups to sign on the letter below.

May, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Richard Durbin
Assistant Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Jon Kyl
Assistant Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senators Reid, McConnell, Durbin and Kyl:

We the undersigned organizations are writing to ask for your help in achieving passage of a
robustly funded and comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization bill before the end of the 111th
Congress that will ensure more low-income children have access to these valuable programs and
take a strong step forward to meet the challenge of ending childhood hunger by 2015.
According to the USDA nearly one in four children in the United States is food insecure: that is,
some 17 million children who face hunger. Child nutrition programs offer the healthiest and
most nourishing meals that many children receive each week. For many poor children, they may
be their only fully-balanced meals. Moreover, there are many poor children who do not have
access to nutrition programs at all. This is particularly true for children living in low-income and
rural areas where breakfast, child care and after school, or summer and weekend food programs
are not available to them.

Data on child nutrition program participation illustrate the point that there are millions of lowincome
children who do not have child nutrition programs available to them. In FY2009, 19.5
million low income children received free and reduced price school lunches. This compared to
only 9.1 million receiving free and reduced price breakfasts, and only 2.2 million children in
summer food programs. Moreover, only 3.1 million children are in child care centers and homes
with federally supported child nutrition programs. Clearly these are large gaps in service that
must be filled quickly if we are to accomplish an end to childhood hunger, and time is running
out to reach this goal by 2015.

Our organizations are united in the call for completion of a strong and fully funded child
nutrition reauthorization bill before the end of this year. Two hundred twenty one members of
the House of Representatives have written to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging her assistance in
identifying resources to achieve President Barack Obama’s commitment of $10 billion in
additional funding for child nutrition over 10 years. We therefore respectfully request that you
bring S.3307 to the Senate floor with the full funding increase proposed by the President, with
the right mix of funding, and on a schedule that assures that this year this important legislation
can fill the gaps in access that remain for millions of our nation’s poorest children.

Respectfully,

National Organizations

Alliance to End Hunger
Association of Nutrition Services Agencies
Bread for the World
Coalition on Human Needs
Community Action Partnership
Congressional Hunger Center
Early Care and Education Consortium
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Feeding America
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
MAZON—A Jewish Response to Hunger
National Women’s Law Center
RESULTS
Share Our Strength
Union for Reform Judaism
WhyHunger

cc: Senator Blanche Lincoln
Senator Saxby Chambliss
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Charles Grassley

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All Organizations:
Join a sign-on letter to urge Senate leadership to bring a strong and robustly funded Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill to the floor.

By signing on, you help to ensure that a robustly funded and comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization bill is passed before the end of the 111th Congress.

The national, state and community-based organization sign-on letter urges Senate leadership to bring The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, S. 3307, to the Senate floor with the full funding increase proposed by President Obama ($10 billion/10 years) - and the right mix of funding - before passage.

TAKE ACTION:
1) Join national, state, and community-based organizations from across the country and sign on to the letter. Click here to sign on.

2) Help create a groundswell of grassroots support at this critical time - encourage others in your network to join the letter. Use our Tell-A-Friend feature to distribute it to your networks and colleagues.

The deadline for the letter is May 28, 2010.

Background
As Congress moves forward with Child Nutrition Reauthorization, it is critical that advocates across the country mobilize to ensure that Congress passes a strong and robust bill that expands program access and participation by the end of the 111th Congress. The White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and 221 House Members are all committed in this effort to support President Obama's proposed $10 billion/10 years for the reauthorization effort. (The Senate Agriculture Committee-passed bill provides $4.5 billion/10 years.)

You can email news releases or brief descriptions of your events, along with photos and media coverage to communications@communityactionpartnership.com. Please include the subject line NCAM 2010.

Thanks to the following CAAs that have sent us their Certificates of Intent:

• City of Rockford's Human Service Department (Rockford, IL)
• Community Action Partnership of Lake County (Waukegan, IL)
• Community Action of Northeast Indiana (Fort Wayne, IN)
• Community Action of Southern Kentucky (Bowling Green, KY)
• East Central Community Action Agency (Danville, IL)
• Louisville Community Action Partnership (Louisville, KY)
• Central Nebraska Community Services (Loup City, NE)
• Southern New Hampshire Services (Manchester, NH)
• Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency, Inc. (Auburn, NY)
• Opportunities for Otsego (Oneonta, NY)
• Pro Action of Steuben and Yates (Bath, NY)
• Stark County Community Action Agency (Canton, OH)
• Little Dixie Community Action Agency (Hugo, OK)
• Community Action Partnership of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Rooftop of Virginia CAP (Galax, VA)

Community Action Month in the News

Kudos to Community Action's own Sue Rux, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunities Council of Indian River County in Vero Beach, Florida, who had an article, "Community partnerships can help save residents from economic disasters," published on tcpalm.com (which
features news from Florida's Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches). In the article, she mentions National Community Action Month and the "importance of "a community that works in "partnership" of agencies, individuals, organizations and businesses to create opportunities to
provide decent, safe affordable housing, a living wage and a future for all our citizens. That is what the Economic Opportunities Council and community action are all about." Way to go, Sue!! To read the article, go to: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/may/01/sue-rux-community-partnerships-can-help-save/?print=1

Newspaper articles have appeared about the following elected officials proclaiming May "Community Action Month" in their local communities:

• Randolph County (MO) Commission - in honor of the Northeast Missouri Community Action Corporation
• Tulare County (CA) Supervisors - in honor of the Community Services and Employment and Training
• Comal County (TX) Commissioners - in honor of the Community Council of South Central Texas and Texas Community Action Agencies

Other Community Action Month news:

• The Opportunity Council in Bellingham, Washington kicked off Community Action Month by announcing its 2010 Community Partner awards (The Bellingham Herald)
• Phillip Cole, Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, will speak at Stark County (OH) Community Action Agency's Community Action Month event on May 18. (Cantonrep.com)

 

In-Depth Review of OMB Circulars
Monday, August 30 and Tuesday, August 31, 2010 ? 8:30a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Lead Presenter: Howard Gesbeck Jr., CPA, JD, Partner, Wipfli LLP

Howard Gesbeck is nationally recognized for his comprehensive work with Community Action Programs, other grant-funded programs, and particularly for his expertise with Federal regulations and OMB Circulars. At this training, Howard Gesbeck will provide you with an in-depth review of OMB Circulars relating to financial management and administration, and practical ways to apply the most current information to your program operations. Topics include:

• Administrative Requirements
• Cost Principles
• Cost Allocation

Participants will receive a comprehensive training manual including outlines and regulations, daily morning refreshments and afternoon breaks. For more information contact Wipfli at (888) 876-4992 or visit www.wipfli.com/boston.

Please note: You must register for this track directly with Wipfli at www.wipfli.com/boston, and the cost does not include regular convention registration.

Fee:
$495 by June 25, 2010
$545 between June 26 – July 30, 2010
$595 after July 30, 2010

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To view or download the 2010 Annual Convention Brochure, click here. Hotel rooms are selling quickly at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Click here to reserve online and assure your reservation is confirmed at the convention rate of $189.00 single or double.