EMPORIUM — The Cameron County Commissioners recently proclaimed the month of May to be Community Action Month in Cameron County in honor of the 50-year effort to improve the quality-of-life for low-income residents of the area.

The Northern Tier Community Action Corp., was founded in 1966 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Economic Opportunity Act and the war on poverty.

The agency serves individuals and families in a 3,300-square-mile area encompassing Cameron, Elk, McKean and Potter counties, promoting self-sufficiency for those of limited income; ensuring that all residents are able to live with dignity; implementing innovative and cost-effective programs to improve the lives and living conditions of the impoverished; providing support and instruction for everyone in need of assistance; and being a major voice of reason in establishing welfare system reforms.

“Community Action Month is a wonderful time to celebrate the impact Community Action has had in the lives of families and communities across the country,” said Northern Tier Community Action Corp. Executive Director David Greene. “Agencies are successful every day in helping families achieve economic security. Given that the needs of each family and community are unique, Community Action is able to use a range of resources and programs to meet local needs in creative and impactful ways.”

During 2015, the agency served 4,615 individuals (2,008 families) in the four-county area it serves through programs such as weatherization, Head Start, Pre-K Counts, child care, food and nutrition, foreclosure prevention, homeless prevention, case management and veterans assistance.

“Transportation is always a factor in employment and education/training in this area. Financial assistance for utilities and weatherization assistance, emergency shelter, child care and food assistance correlate closely with the lack of employment and living wage employment in the area and increased utility and rental cost,” said Northern Tier Community Action Corp. Deputy Director Randall Metcalf. “Reducing these barriers makes it possible for families to focus more of their resources on employment and transportation.”

Education and training centers are not conveniently located for individuals in the four-county area, and public transportation schedules are not often compatible with work or educational schedules.

“There is an inadequate amount of affordable public transportation available to the clientele within our isolated service area,” Metcalf stated. “While there are programs to educate or train people for employment, the very people who need these programs often encounter the additional obstacles associated with transportation and child care to obtaining education, training and, ultimately, employment.”

There is also an increasing number of people who are dependent upon the public welfare system, Metcalf said. The number of individuals receiving food or medical assistance is well above state averages. Program managers are well-versed in programs and services offered by the agency and other agencies and organizations in the service area so they can refer clients to a wide range of services required for them to achieve self-sufficiency.

The Head Start program has 14 centers located in the four-county area, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program provides the students with a healthy, balanced lunch each day. Last year, 317 children were served through the program, and an additional 14 children in Cameron County were educated through the Pre-K Counts program.

Through child care information services, which provides subsidies to low income families with children enrolled in daycare or watched by a friend or relative, 197 families were provided quality child care, allowing adults in the family to secure employment.

Employees in the weatherization program made improvements to 192 homes last year, sealing gaps that allow outside air into the home, upgrading heating systems and properly installing insulation and other measures aimed at decreasing energy costs for clients.

Through energy assistance programs, 353 families were helped to purchase deliverable fuels to heat their homes in winter or make utility payments.

Several food programs combined to assist 658 individuals in the region. Elk and Cameron county food banks provide boxes to families and individuals. Additional assistance comes from the Second Harvest program in Elk and Cameron counties. Surplus food items are secured through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), provided by the United States and Pennsylvania departments of agriculture. Meanwhile, the State Food Purchase Program provides funds for the agency to purchase additional food items to help create a balanced, nutritional package for recipients.

Eight families in Cameron and Elk counties also benefitted from the emergency food and shelter program, which provides food and rental and utility assistance.

A total of 13 families received stabilization assistance with rent through the homeless assistance program and the Human Services Development Fund. Help is given to families in imminent danger of being evicted or are currently homeless through this program.

Foreclosure prevention counseling was given to 19 families through the homeowners’ emergency mortgage assistance program.

Meanwhile, 20 families in Potter County received assistance through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) Fund, which provides homelessness prevention assistance to families that would otherwise become homeless due to the Marcellus Shale drilling effects on rental rates.

The agency’s newest program is a homelessness prevention program for military veterans, which began earlier this year through an emergency solutions grant with Lawrence County. Case managers are also assigned to the veterans to help them secure employment and make other necessary steps to get their lives back on track. As the program is relatively new, no data was yet available on the number of individuals helped.

“Despite experiencing budget cuts, shrinking resources and increased demands for services during these challenging economic times, Northern Tier Community Action has been remarkably successful assisting the low-income veterans, senior citizens, families and children of Cameron, Elk, McKean and Potter counties to achieve and maintain economic security,” Greene said. “Our staff is committed to their task of replacing disadvantages with opportunities because it is right, it is wise, and because, in our hearts and minds we believe it is possible to conquer poverty in our lifetime.”

More information is available on the Northern Tier Community Action Corp. website at www.ntcac.org, or by contacting the Northern Tier offices in Emporium.