Audubon Area Community Services, Inc.
Family Support and Community Services Programs
Operated throughout the Green River Area under the auspices of the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children
"Neighbors Helping Neighbors"
225 Loyal volunteers and just 17 paid staff make all the following services
possible!
12,864 clients were served in 1995-96 through the "CSBG" || 38,928 persons were assisted.
20,698 individual direct services were recorded.
The one and only "funding stream" that all Community Action Agencies (CAAs) have in common is the federal CSBG support grant. In most cases, including Audubon Area Community Services (AACS), CSBG funding supports a community-based network of staff and offices which enable CAAs to deliver a wide range of services for the low income. The primary focus is, first, to help needy families meet basic needs--which Audubon does mainly through its carefully recruited, trained, supervised, and managed volunteer corps. The staff concentrate their attention on helping families develop self-sufficiency plans and actions. Helping needy families achieve good outcomes has been a growing emphasis over the life of the CSBG, the block grant that works! A number of success stories are included in the AACS annual report. These may be viewed in the 1995-96 Annual Report which is posted at this site's Publications Page.
CSBG funding in the amount of $6,296,347 is administered by the 23 Community Action Agencies in Kentucky. Those agencies, through CSBG-funded staffing and support, served 496,552 total clients, providing a total of 652,542 services through CSBG funding alone.
In addition, 246 Title V (Senior Community Service Employment Program) slots (enrollees) were managed through the CSBG program and 23 were placed in unsubsidized employment.
CSBG staff and CSBG-supervised volunteers also administered Kentucky's 1995-96 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) statewide, posting (according to preliminary 1996 reports) the following statewide service totals:
"Crisis" Component (phase)-- Total households served: 56,010 || Total dollar assistance provided: $4,270,297
"Subsidy" Component-- Total households served: 89,493 || Total dollar assistance provided: $7,906,303
--Data provided by the Cabinet for Families and Children, Frankfort
Aging Services in Hancock and Webster Counties
...
Under the auspices of the CSBG branch of the agency, Audubon Area assumed responsibility for the "Older Americans Program" in Hancock and Webster Counties as of July 1, 1997. Both county aging services programs are funded under Title II of the Older Americans Act. The AACS operates the senior centers (which also serve as congregate meal sites) in both counties and is responsible for meals delivery under the Nutrition Program for the Elderly. The CSBG County Coordinators in these counties also serve as County Aging Services Coordinators for their respective counties.
This change came about when the previous area-wide aging services sponsor declined further management of the Green River Area program and the Area Agency on Aging (Green River Area Development District) bid the operation of the "Title III" program as separate county-level entities. The AACS then responded to assist the counties and their elected officials with both the proposals and subsequent management of these programs.
Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children...
Most of the programs listed below are funded through the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children, formerly the Cabinet for Human Resources. The Cabinet has two major departments:
- McKinney Act Homeless Services
Assistance to transients, rental/mortgage assistance and utility support to resident indigents, temporary housing and transportation
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Payments to utility vendors and bulk fuel providers to maintain families' heating and safety
LIHEAP Testimonials...
April 12, 1996
Audubon Area Community Services
Henderson, KY
To Whom It May Concern:
Please accept this letter as our wholehearted endorsement of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program. Too many residents of our area unfortunately fall into the category that has come to be known as "the working poor", consequently, long cold winters, high utility bills, and limited income do not always mix. We here at WEHT-TV feel those residents are fortunate to have such a service available to them...further, we feel it is our responsibility to increase awareness of such services among those who do not know about it.
Sincerely,
Bill Riales
Anchor/Reporter
WEHT-TV
April 11, 1996
Dear Judy (Thompson) [Daviess County Coordinator],
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your help and patience with the different programs the state has funded.
You have always gone out of your way to help us with information we need., and have been prompt to verify any false information the customer has given to us. Thanks to your skills in organization, the programs work very well.
Owensboro Municipal Utilities Customer Service Department
- Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance
Rent and mortgage assistance, Food assistance--including food banks and self-help gardens
- WinterCare Energy Fund
Utility customers' donations help the indigent secure and maintain their home heating energy supply
- Senior Community Service Employment Program
Transitional senior workers who assist the delivery of these services to other low-income persons
- Local "Last Resort" Assistance Funds
Counties and local private groups have for many years provided funds to the AACS to aid local residents. Through June 1995, benefits also included pauper burials in the most populous Western Kentucky county
The 23 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) in Kentucky employ 3,371 persons (based on an September 1996 survey in which all responded). Kentucky's CAAs also operate federal, state, local, and privately funded programs totaling (in September 1996) $120,310,974 -- including $77,909,126 in federal funding.
Kentucky CAAs support a statewide association with an office and staff located in Frankfort, Kentucky:
Thomas D. "Kip" Bowmar, Executive Director || Telephone" 502/875-5863
Kentucky Poverty Locator Maps.
Incidence of Poverty By Census Divisions...
Community Action Outside Kentucky...
The National Association of State Community Services Programs based in Washington, D.C. prepares an annual nationwide summary of CSBG services and funding and the total programming of CAAs across the nation.
In 1993, the nearly 200 CAAs in the 8-state Southeast Region administered $465 million in the kinds of services and programs included in the pages. For a look into some other CAAs, go to the Links Page at this site. We have located a number of other CAAs with Web sites/pages.
Go to other Audubon Area pages...
Return to Audubon Area's Home Page || "Marketing" Page. Audubon's Marketable Services: How the agency does what the public says it wants and needs.
CSBG in Kentucky...
Community Action in Kentucky and the Southeast...