Wikipedia:Northeast Kingdom Community Action

Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) is an anti-poverty community action agency, founded in 1964 to help people in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom meet their basic needs and become self-sufficient. The agency is a partner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families and is primarily funded by federal and state government resources.

Locations and leadership
Northeast Kingdom Community Action's headquarters is located in the historic United States Customs House Building at 70 Main Street in Newport, Vermont. It has administrative offices in St. Johnsbury and Newport with satellite facilities in Island Pond and Canaan. The organization is led by Executive Director Jenna O’Farrell and Board of Directors Chair Martha Hill.

NEKCA's community partners are the Vermont Foodbank, Northern Counties Health Care, RuralEdge, Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NEKHS), the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging, and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital. NEKCA also partners with the Center for Rural Studies (CRS) at University of Vermont for data collection.

Program services
NEKCA serves the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, which according the Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NEKHS), "continues to have the deepest poverty in Vermont," and "poor health outcomes." NEKHS also writes, "The Vermont Department of Health (VDH) ranks the fourteen counties in Vermont each year and two of the three counties in the Kingdom continuously score in last place."

Food Assistance
NEKCA helps people apply for 3SquaresVT (formerly called "Food Stamps") and distributes Farm to Family coupons in partnership with the Vermont Department for Children and Families to income-eligible households, to help buy fruit and vegetables at local Farmer's Markets.

In November 2020, NEKCA worked with St. Johnsbury Rotary members to collect nearly 700 pounds of food and supplies donations for the community.

Fuel and Utility Assistance
NEKCA provides Crisis Fuel and Electricity Assistance, Supplemental Fuel Assistance, Electric Cost Assistance, and administers a Furnace Repair and Replacement program to income-eligible households.

In the winter of 2003–2004, Northeast Kingdom Community Action provided fuel assistance to 461 applicants, and denied 206 because they did not meet income criteria.

Housing and Shelter Assistance
NEKCA offers housing counseling, financial assistance, and transitional housing and shelter.

In 2019, The Associated Press profiled the St. Johnsbury Area Warming Shelter, created by Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NEKHS) and Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA), and interviewed NEKCA staff.

In May 2020, NEKCA leased a house in St. Johnsbury to support COVID-19 isolation, and was able to increase housing assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic due to changes in DCF rules.

Parent Child Centers
NEKCA's Parent Child Centers are part of a statewide network of centers that offer a range of services for children and families, including several Head Start programs.

Youth and Young Adults
NEKCA's Community Action Youth Services (CAYS) offers "wrap around" services to youth age 12 - 22, including a crisis hotline, support for basic needs, education, jobs, and mentoring. Services also include homelessness and foster care transition services, a crisis intervention program for runaways age 12 - 18, a Teen Center in Newport, VT, and education support for pregnant and parenting teens and young adults of all genders.

Micro Business Development Program
NEKCA offers technical assistance, learning opportunities, tax assistance (VITA), and funding opportunities to eligible participants who intend to start or expand a small business.

In 2020, NEKCA administered CARES Act grants to small businesses in the region. In January 2020, The Associated Press reported that NEKCA was part of a coalition of local groups that launched NEK Prosper! and a funding program to support small businesses.

Community and Justice Programs
NEKCA works with the Vermont Department of Corrections and the Vermont Department for Children and Families to administer a Community Based Corrections Program to support transition from incarceration, a Court Diversion program as an alternative to incarceration, a Youth Substance Abuse Safety Program, a Driving with License Suspended Program for eligible participants, a Pre-Trial Risk Assessment and Needs Screening program, and a Balanced & Restorative Justice program (BARJ) for youth on probation.

Thrift Store
The NEKCA Parent Child Center Thrift Store offers job training and work experience, and affordable clothing, household goods, and furniture.

Fundraising and Outreach
For more than ten years, there has been a yearly Hungerfest fundraiser to support NEKCA's Food Shelf program that has evolved over time and includes a variety of events. In the past, two radio stations, WMOO and WIKE, held a three-day, 24-hour, on-air Hungerfest fundraiser.

Northeast Kingdom Community Action has also worked to increase public awareness about homelessness.

Awards

 * In 2018, NEKCA was awarded the Creative Workforce Solutions’ 2017 fourth quarter Business of the Quarter Award.
 * In 2020, NEKCA received a Community Leadership Award from the Green Mountain United Way.

History
The organization was originally named Orleans County Council of Social Agencies (OCCSA), founded as a Community Action Program in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty. It was headquartered at the Old Customs building on Main Street in Newport.

OCCSA founded a spectrum of agencies which still exist: Rural Community Transportation, Northern Communities Investment Corporation, and Gillman Housing, among others.

The original executive director of OCCSA had political difficulties with the then-governor of Vermont, Richard Snelling, who had been born out-of-state, in Pennsylvania. When talking to a newspaper reporter, OCCSA's executive director called the governor a "porky flatlander". OCCSA was subsequently dismantled and the director moved to a western state.

Northeast Kingdom Community Action was established in 1980 as a successor to OCCSA.

Northeast Kingdom Community Action formerly facilitated visits between non-custodial parents and their children.

In 2008, Northeast Kingdom Community Action tried to convert a building to a transitional shelter for parolees in Newport. When NEKCA attempted to rezone a St. Johnsbury building for transitional housing for parolees, neighbors objected, as did the local newspaper. Attempting to reverse the rezoning, 13 litigants took Northeast Kingdom Community Action to Environmental Court in 2007. The litigants' petition was denied in 2009.

Northeast Kingdom Community Action provided 24-hour support to victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse. When they discovered that Newport police were recording conversations between Northeast Kingdom Community Action's victim advocates and victims, four advocates resigned, two dismissed, for going public with the information.