PICCA celebrates Community Action Month and the birth of a national movement

Thursday, Circleville Mayor Michelle Blanton presented a Mayoral Proclamation to the Pickaway County Community Action Organization (PICCA) for Community Action Month, recognizing the 60th Anniversary of the National Community Action Partnership created after President Lyndon Johnson spearheaded legislation that created the Office of Economic Opportunity, aka War on Poverty. Pictured (L-r) is Brenda Short, who works for the mayor and is a PICCA board member, Mayor Blanton and Becky Hammond, PICCA executive director. The rest of the folks in the photo are either PICCA directors, staff or other board members.

Photo by Jeff Phillips

CIRCLEVILLE – Pickaway County Community Action Organization (PICCA) is celebrating Community Action Month in May, as 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of federal legislation that created a network of non-profit agencies to fight poverty in the United States.

PICCA is a member of the National Community Action Partnership, which links the nation’s 1,000-plus local agencies and state associations to each other and to leaders looking for solutions that connect families to greater opportunities.

“PICCA is on the front-line of fighting poverty in Pickaway County,” Executive Director Becky Hammond said. “Every day we work with our families, friends and neighbors by providing services to improve their quality of life.”

The War on Poverty is the unofficial name for legislation introduced Jan. 8, 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address. When proposed, the national poverty rate was nearly 20 percent. The act created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to administer the local application of federal funds targeted against poverty.

The first community action organizations started later that year. PICCA started serving the county in 1965.

The primary source of funding for community action organizations are Community Services Block Grants (CSBG). Additional federal and local grants, along with donations help fund programs operated by PICCA and others like it.