Clarksville, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) For our latest Giving Grace we want you to know more about a nonprofit organization in our community that offers many services to local citizens. In fact, community is part of their name, it’s the Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency.
The agency was chartered in 1978 by the city and county with the purpose to identify problems of poverty and to seek the elimination of conditions of poverty as they affect people in Clarksville-Montgomery County.
Leslie Chiodini is the Executive Director of CMCCAA. “Our primary focus is to serve the low-income community and most of our programs are based on the needs of the community. We’re unique in that way where we don’t focus on just one area, but we focus in multiple areas,” said Chiodini.
She added their primary goal is a two-generation approach which means they are not just helping one individual but helping the whole family. Some of the programs that are part of the Community Action Agency include Head Start, Low Income Home Energy Assistance, the Old Firehouse Day Shelter, Foster Grandparents, and Retired Senior Volunteers.
One other program that Chiodini wanted to highlight was Room in the Inn which partners with 16 local churches. It’s a winter shelter program that operates from November through March and 99 homeless individuals received assistance this past season that recently ended.
Chiodini added it was amazing to be able to operate and partner with that many churches in the community and be so successful mainly because they are so passionate about the program.
To show the impact of the agency, between July 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, 7,059 people received assistance with their utility bills, 653 received boxes of USDA food, 199 homeless received help with housing, and 28 individuals had their homes weatherized.
One important note this year about the energy assistance program is they have received twice the amount of funding, $2.8 million, and the Community Action Agency is looking for more people to apply for the program.
Also, 907 homeless were helped with services from the Old Firehouse Day Shelter. That included clothing, showers, meals, transportation and case management. With the senior program, retired Senior Volunteers provided 5,515 hours of service to organizations like the Red Cross, Laves & Fishes and the Ajax Turner Senior Center.
Foster Grandparent Volunteers provided 54,928 hours to Montgomery County elementary school classrooms, Head Start, Tabernacle Christian School and the Clarksvill- Montgomery County Public Library.
The total value to the Clarksville-Montgomery County community in services is estimated to be $4.2 million with support for more than 10,000 citizens.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency can be found at 150 Lafayette Rd. and they are open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. To learn more go to www.cmccaa.com, visit their facebook page or call 931-896-1800.
Giving Grace is brought to you by Grace Dental.
