Mission & History

Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are local, private, and public non-profit organizations that carry out the Community Action Program (CAP). The 1964 Economic Opportunity Act established CAAs to fight poverty by empowering the poor as part of the War on Poverty.

The Washington State Community Action Partnership has a network of 30 CAAs that help low-income individuals and families in all 39 counties of Washington state. 

WSCAP MISSION

The Washington State Community Action Partnership addresses the causes and conditions of poverty to build a just society and culture of belonging in Washington. We partner statewide, regionally, and federally to help Community Action Agencies and their stakeholders transform attitudes, practices, and policy towards poverty with an equity and inclusion focus. 

WSCAP VISION

WSCAP illuminates and eliminates the causes and conditions of poverty which are rooted in targeted exclusion from economic mobility through systems of white supremacy, sexism, and colonization. We provide training, technical assistance, advocacy, and marketing services on a statewide basis to WSCAP members in service of building a culture of belonging in Washington. ​

We get there by modeling that culture of belonging in association activities, prioritizing brave action-oriented conversations, and democratizing collaboration in our network​

• Our training and technical assistance strategy is rooted in change management principles and equipping agencies for the transformation necessary to get upstream and ultimately reduce the overall need for the services we provide. ​
• Our advocacy strategy is unapologetically rooted in social, economic, and environmental justice and built around the leadership of the people served by Community Action to make poverty a rare, brief, one-time experience. ​
• Our marketing strategy builds a narrative defining poverty as a systemic and policy failure that we can all play a role in changing, reduce stigma to increase uptake of available services, and provide an entry point for community members who want to get involved. ​

The impact is the replacement of harmful systems with healing ones that center the power and leadership of those most deeply impacted by poverty in building just, equitable, and sustainable communities in Washington.

WSCAP VALUES

Truth – We are grounded in the reality of our history and our present as a country and as a network​

Equitable and Accountable Relationships – We listen and help each other grow while shifting the change burden away from leaders from targeted communities to leaders who benefit from the dominant culture ​

Targeted Inclusion – We go out of our way to ask which people and communities have been excluded and engage them meaningfully​

Centering Lived Experience – People closest to poverty and marginalization share power in systems change and how we build programs that reduce and eliminate harm