Missouri Valley Community Action Agency wants all citizens to thrive in our communities, taking an active role in guiding community leaders, so all citizens remain vital, diverse and safe. Our transformational plan discusses our work in advancing the quality of life in our service area. To view the agency’s strategic direction and transformational plan in detail go to MVCAA Transformational Plan.

 

MVCAA Strategies and Services

 

Relationship Strategy – Build and maintain supportive relationship across socio-economic and cultural lines to end poverty in our communities.

·         Back to School Fairs - furnishes school supplies and provides services such as vision and hearing screenings, immunizations and information on bicycle safety, school bus safety, and fire safety, as well as registration for library cards, free reading books, and finger printing by the sheriff or local police department.

·         Tax Preparation for Low-Income Families - provides income tax preparation at no cost to families who cannot afford to pay for their tax returns to be processed and/or do not know how to prepare and file tax returns.  Tax returns are electronically filed so that refunds are received faster. MVCAA provides not only federal tax filing, but state tax filing and filing for State Property Tax Credits for the elderly and disabled.

·         Family Support (Case Management) - is offered to families who have barriers to obtaining employment and education. Families/individuals who qualify should have one of the following: a willingness to change their life situations toward self-sufficiency; numerous emergencies; multiple barriers, or currently in a crisis situation or IDA participants.

·         Individual Development Account (IDA) - In an Individual Development Account program, money saved by an eligible individual is supplemented with money added by banks or organizations. The account is designed to help people save money for specific reasons such as buying a house, attending college, starting a business or saving for retirement. The money is “ear-marked” so it can't be withdrawn on a whim.

·         Circles -  a strategy component of Community Development, based on the premise that poverty hurts all of us and is held in place by our separation from one another. It is the intention of Circles to break the practice of an isolated service delivery model of helping. Although important, services alone cannot and do not move families safely and permanently out of poverty.  Circles are comprised of people who agree to befriend a family who is trying to get out of poverty.

·         Energy Assistance (EA) - provides financial assistance to low-income households in meeting their home heating costs.

·         Emergency Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) -  provides assistance to low-income households that are facing eviction and/or utility shut-offs, among other emergency situations.

Education Strategy – Build community capacity to ensure all individuals receive a quality education and learning opportunities to meet their potential.

·         Head Start - provides children with activities that help them grow socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually. Also provides hearing and vision screenings and immunizations.

·         Family Literacy - helps adults develop literacy skills while promoting the learning success of their children.

·         Enhancement Classes (Life Skills)- provides information and training on how to file for Advance Earned Income Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, basic nutrition information, food preparation, energy savings techniques, financial management, and basic health care.

·         General Educational Development (GED) - offers people who did not finish high school the opportunity to earn high school credentials.

Housing Strategy – Expand community and agency capacity to ensure safe, decent, affordable housing for all families and individuals.

·         Section 8 Rental Assistance - ensures decent, safe, sanitary and affordable housing for low income families through a voucher program.

·         Home Weatherization - provides safe, energy efficient and comfortable housing for low income    people, targeting the physically disadvantaged, the elderly, and children and others hit hardest by the energy crisis.

·         Homebuyer Education - a two-part course that covers money management,  financial literacy and  real estate procedures. Some of the topics covered include: checking  and savings accounts, spending plans, getting a loan, predatory lending practices, insurance needs, credit review, truth-in-lending laws, shopping for a mortgage, protecting and maintaining your home.

·         Energy Conservation Classes - a course that consists of information and tips that most individuals can use to make their homes more energy efficient and to reduce utility costs and also offers simple “fixes” for those who just want to reduce energy expenses in the current homes.

·         Affordable Housing Development - development or remodeling of apartment complexes, in order to offer safe, decent, affordable housing, and the construction of single family dwellings.

·         Supportive Housing - Missouri Valley's Supportive Housing Program for persons who are disabled and homeless is funded by a grant from Housing and Urban Development.

Employment Strategy – Build community capacity to guarantee access to living wage jobs.

·         Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative - promotes entrepreneurial practices with cooperatives and other businesses located in underserved communities through use of creative thinking, technical assistance, information and technology, strategic alliances, research and development planning, and expanding global and international market relationships.

·         Technology Center - provides transcription services for Hollywood-based reality TV services. Transcribers download unedited raw videos shot on location for reality-type programs, referred to as “dailies,” onto a computer. The transcribers view the dailies and transcribe word-for-word transcripts from the video.