Our Charter

The Clarksville-Montgomery Community Action Agency (CMCCAA) was chartered in 1978 by the city and county under a staffing Grant from the Community Services Administration and is directed by a twelve member Board of Directors as a private non-profit 501c (3) corporation.

Mission Statement

It is the general purpose of CMCCAA to identify problems of poverty and to seek the elimination of conditions of poverty as they affect people in the communities of Clarksville and Montgomery County, Tennessee.

It shall further be the general purpose and functions of the CMCCAA to utilize and mobilize the resources of the community to implement programs that are designed to alleviate the effects of poverty in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area.

Philosophy

Staff must be qualified, nurtured, encouraged and rewarded as they enhance their skills and educational levels to provide the quality services deserved by families and their children. Inherent to the philosophy is the determination to be an agent for change within the community, to serve as advocates and liaisons for the low-Income. To strive to ensue that programs and services address the real needs of the community in a planned, orderly, efficient, effective and professional manner.

The purpose and function of our agency is to:

Administer programs from the office of Community Services, Tennessee Department of Human Services, their successors and other appropriate Federal state and local governments, private aid public agencies, corporations and foundations in Clarksville and Montgomery County Tennessee;

Work with the three (3) significant groups in the agency's service area (i.e.) the poor sector, the public sector and the private sector) to identify the causes of poverty;

Make the entire agency's service areas more sensitive to the needs and interests of the poor, and develop priorities among projects and activities to be implemented by the agency to eliminate the causes of poverty.

To empower clients to become more economically self-sufficient by planning and assisting them in locating and accessing resources enabling participants to identify their strengths and barriers as well as to assume responsibility within and for their community. Additionally, families will be assisted to strengthen family units by making informed decisions and initiating positive actions.

What is a Community Action Agency

Community Action Agencies are private non-profit or public organizations that were created by the federal government in 1964 to combat poverty in geographically designated areas. Status as a Community Action Agency is the result of an explicit designation by local or state government. A Community Action Agency has a tripartite board structure that is designated to promote the participation of the entire community in the reduction or elimination of poverty. Community Action Agencies seek to involve the community, including elected public poverty.

Why Community Action Agencies Are Unique

Most poverty-related organizations focus on a specific area of need, such as job training, health care, housing, or economic development. Community Action Agencies reach out to low-income people in their communities, address their multiple needs through a comprehensive approach, develop partnerships with other community organizations, involve low-income clients in the agency's operations, and administer a full range of coordinated programs designed to have a measurable impact on poverty.

Mode of Operation

A Community Action Agency carries out its mission through a variety of means inducing:

• community-wide assessments of needs and strengths,
• mobilization of financial and non-financial resources,
• advocacy on behalf of low-income people and
• Partnerships with other community-based organizations to eliminate poverty.

A Community Action Agency involves the low-income population it serves in the planning, administering and evaluating of its programs.

Hours of Operation

Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Holiday Schedule

TBA

We are located at:

View Map

150 Lafayette Road
Clarksville, TN 37042

Mailing Address:

Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency
PO Box 487
Clarksville TN 37041-048

We can be reached by phone at:

931.896.1800	Main Office
ext 1802	Leslie Chiodini, Executive Director
ext 1806	Paris Carnell, Head Start
ext 1811	Jean Adcock, Fiscal Officer
ext 1819	Robert Davis, Community Programs
ext 1810	Human Resources & AmeriCorps Seniors
931.542.0381	Firehouse Day Shelter