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OKACAA partners with OG&E on weatherization program
   The Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) has formed a partnership with Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) to weatherize homes of eligible senior citizens.
   OG&E has provided $20,000 to OKACAA through its “Hand-N-Hand” program. Maximum cost per unit for labor and materials is limited to $1,000.
   OG&E customers who are 65 years of age or older who own and occupy their own home and are physically or financially unable to get the work done and do not qualify for other weatherization programs are eligible to receive help.
   Community Action Agencies with OG&E customers in their service areas include Big Five, Central Oklahoma Community Action, Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties, Community Action Resource & Development, Community Action Development Corporation, Community Development Support Association, Cookson Hills, INCA, Delta, Deep Fork, KI BOIS, Opportunities and United.

Southwest Oklahoma Community Action takes lead in creating Community of Promise
   Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group is taking the lead is organizing one of the largest collaborations Jackson County has ever seen.
   With the help of AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Arlene Burgess, the agency expects to bring together over 200 groups to create a Community of Promise. A Community of Promise is a coalition of public, private and not-for-profit sector groups who mobilize to fulfill five promises to youth.
• Ongoing relationships with caring adults - parents, mentors, coaches or tutors
• Safe places with structured activities during non school hours
• A healthy start and future
• Marketable skills through effective education
• Opportunities to give back through community service. Southwest Executive Director Neil Montgomery said youth are providing input into the needs. More than 40 young people participated in a Martin Luther King Day event.
   Officials expect to do a needs assessment and then begin developing a plan.
   “Everybody has been very supportive,” Montgomery said.

Two Community Action Agencies have created new web sites.

Community Action
Resource & Development

http://www.cardcaa.org

Deep Fork Community
Action Foundation

http://www.deepforkcommunityaction.netfirms.com

Construction proceeding on off-farm housing in Altus
   Farm laborers in the Altus area will soon be moving from their substandard housing into new single family units being built by Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group.
   Linda Tarpley, Associate/Housing Director, expects the houses to be occupied by late spring. Migrant workers get first priority on the housing, she said.
   The ten houses are being built in a neighborhood near Southwest’s offices in Altus.
The houses average 1,500 square feet and are all brick with central heat and air, washer and dryer, refrigerator and stove, Tarpley said. Six of the units are three bedroom and four are four bedroom.
   Funding for the $680,000 construction project is coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, a HOME grant and Community Housing Development Organization proceeds. Tenants will pay no more than 30 percent of their gross adjusted income in rent.
   The City of Altus cleaned debris off the lots before construction began and has also waived all of its fees. “They have been just super about this,” Tarpley said.
   Southwest also owns 10 other rental property units in the city.

Oklahoma Homebuyer Education Association accomplishments grow
   In the two years since its founding, the Oklahoma Homebuyers Education Association (OHEA) has added more than 50 organizations outside the Community Action network.
   OHEA’s membership has grown to include banks, mortgage companies, tribal housing authorities, municipal housing authorities, the Oklahoma Municipal League, Community Housing Development Organizations and various nonprofit housing organizations, many of whom were previously unaware of Community Action, said Michael E. Jones, Executive Director.
   In addition, since the first certification training class was held in 2001 a total of 110 individuals across the state have been certified as trainers using the OHEA-developed homebuyer education curriculum, Tricia Auberle, OHEA Coordinator, reported.
   Jones estimates about 3,000 Oklahomans were trained by OHEA-certified trainers during 2002.
Participating service providers can receive financial subsidies for providing education to rural homebuyers, Jones noted.
   Since subsidies became available in 2002, the association has paid out $11,250 to Community Action Resource & Development, Community Development Support Association, Deep Fork Community Action, Delta Community Action, KI BOIS Community Action, Little Dixie Community Action, Southwest Oklahoma Community Action and OSU Cooperative Extension - Tulsa.

Community Action, Head Start staff attend conference
   “Leading the Way: Positive Educational, Social & Healthy Outcomes for Children” was the theme 2003 Mid-Winter Leadership Conference hosted by the Administration for Children and Families in Dallas in January.
   A large number of Oklahoma’s Community Action and Head Start staff attended the conference.
Sessions addressed strategies related to the Administration’s key priorities of Healthy Marriage/Responsible Fatherhood, Positive Youth Development, Literacy, Faith-Based Community Initiatives, Rural Communities and Prevention, he added.

Counseling funds awarded
   Four Community Action Agencies are among ten state groups to be awarded nearly $279,000 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing counseling services to low and moderate-income families.
   Community Action Agencies receiving awards were Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties, $21,080; Community Development Support Association, Enid, $30,000; KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Stigler, $17,081; and Community Action Project of Tulsa County, $50,000.
   Other groups receiving funds include CCCS of Central Oklahoma, Inc., Bethany, $37,495; Chickasaw Nation, Ada, $19,050; Muskogee Housing Authority, $6,191; Stillwater Housing Authority, $24,244; Norman Housing Authority, $45,908; and Housing Partners of Tulsa, Inc., $27,854.

INCA opens new Head Start Center in Sulphur
   INCA Community Services Head Start has moved into a pair of new buildings in Sulphur. The center currently has two classes of three-year-olds and one class of four-year-old children. INCA has space for another classroom and hopes to add an Early Head Start program next year. The Head Start center is located near the public schools complex.

Vacant store to become new home for CAA
   The Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties is planning to renovate a long-empty department store in the historic Capitol Hill area to become its new offices.
   The renovation of the old John A. Brown store will give a shot in the arm for the Capitol Hill area, said State Senator Keith Leftwich. “We’re seeing a rebirth of Capitol Hill,” added State Representative Al Lindley during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
   Jim Sconzo, Executive Director, said the agency is getting $3 million in Community Development Block Grants to renovate the building.
   The building will be gutted and new mechanical and electrical systems installed. Sconzo said he hopes contractors can begin work by March and complete the work before the end of the year.
Sconzo expects to move 75 Community Action staff members into the 45,000 square foot building.
   The agency also acquired an adjacent and also vacant J.C. Penny’s building. Sconzo would like to begin working on renovating that building later as part of an area economic development effort.
   In conjunction with the building renovation, the Capitol Hill Main Street project is spearheading an effort to improve streets, sidewalks and lighting in the area.

Community Action Agencies get housing grants
   Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) grants have been awarded by the HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) to five Community Action Agencies.
   Housing Connection reports that the following CHDO operating grants were awarded:
• Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties - $104,110
• Great Plains Improvement Foundation - $31,451
• Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group - $50,000
   Operating grants help pay for operating expenses for pre-development activities, as well as help build capacity.
HOME awarded KI BOIS Community Action Foundation a $487,500 grant to assist home buyers with up-front costs.
   The grant will be used for downpayment assistance, closing cost assistance, principal buy downs and leverage loans. Financial assistance will be allowed up to $7,500.
   Little Dixie Community Action Agency has been awarded $135,000 that will be used to provide developer subsidies for 18 homes to be constructed in a three-county area. This will enable the agency to reduce the cost of the houses to make them more affordable to low-income families, explained Becky Byrd, Housing Director.

Housing inspection video created by Deep Fork
Deep Fork Community Action has produced a training video that demonstrates how to inspect a home before buying it to avoid problems and unexpected expenses later in ownership.
   “How to Inspect a House Before Buying It” was screened at the National Rural Housing Conference in Washington and impressed everyone who watched it, said Jeff Schuman, Executive Director, Deep Fork.
   This is the second home buyer education video produced by Deep Fork. The first was entitled “Owning a Home of Your Own.” It sold nearly 350 copies nationwide.
   The new video contains inspection tips and teaches the home buyer to take along a “home buyer inspection tool kit” when looking for a house they are serious considering for purchase, Schuman said.
   Why create these videos?
   “Because we needed them for our own home buyer education programs and then realized it would be a great way to generate non-government revenue to support our agency’s activities,” said Schuman.
   The new video is available in both English and Spanish. The Spanish version of the video uses a Hispanic house inspector and narrator to eliminate sub-titles.
   Information on these videos can be obtained from Deep Fork at 918-756-2826.

OKACAA provides training for board members
   The Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies (OKACAA) is providing training for agency board members on their responsibilities.
   “You’re Responsible” is the title of the 20-minute presentation that is designed to be incorporated into a regular board meeting, explained Bob Brandenburg, Communications Director.
   “The Board is ultimately responsible for the actions of the Community Action Agency,” Brandenburg said. “This presentation is designed to acquaint board members with some of their major responsibilities.”
   The presentation covers board members duty of care and loyalty, hirng and evaluating the executive director, overseeing finances, participating in the planning process, complying with the Open Meeting Act, and volunteer protection laws.
   Brandenburg has already presented the program at board meetings of Community Action Development Corporation, Cookson Hills Community Action, Delta Community Action, Great Plains Improvement Foundation, and Southwest Oklahoma Community Action.
   OKACAA also provides training for board members during its Legislative Conference in March and Annual Conference in September. However, because of job conflicts and other reasons, many board members cannot attend these training sessions in Oklahoma City.
   This program is intended to take part of the training offered at our conferences out to the agencies, Brandenburg said.

Great Plains Improvement Foundation consolidates offices in Lawton
   Great Plains Improvement Foundation has consolidated three of its Lawton offices into one building located at 2 S.E. Lee.
   The 1,500 square foot office complex now houses the administrative staff along with the staff members for the child care food, child support enforcement, developmental disabilities, HOME, transportation, vocational rehabilitiation and weatherization programs.
   “It’s ideal for us,” Odell Gunter, executive director, said. “It allows us room for growth.”
   One of the major benefits of the new site is additional meeting space. The facility features a training room that will seat up to 75, board meeting room plus a hearing room for the child support enforcement program.
   Great Plains is also making the meeting rooms available to other community groups such as Red Cross and OSU Extension, Gunter, added.
   Great Plains began moving into the new facility in May and had a formal open house in December.
Mark Your Calendar

OWHAC
11th Annual Statewide
Housing & Energy Conference
August 18-21
Oklahoma City