Executive Director Gloria B. Lewis

CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AUTHORITYis a non-profit organization committed to facilitating the movement towards self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self-determination by"HELPING PEOPLE HELP THEMSELVES"

EOA pledges that you and your needs come first.  You will have a positive relationship with our agency until you no longer need or desire the services to which you are entitled.

EOA further guarantees that the Board, staff and volunteers will constantly seek better ways to serve you.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began programs to prevent juvenile delinquency. This formed the President�s Council on Juvenile Delinquency� which funded �Mobilization for Youth�, that, in coordination with Ford Foundation, organized and coordinated neighborhood councils composed of local officials, service providers and neighbors to develop plans to correct conditions leading to juvenile delinquency. During this time, the Ford Foundation was working on a pilot project in New Haven, CT, in which people from all sectors of the community were recruited to come together and help low-income people. The process was called �Community Action�. President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but the new President, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work on programs to improve the lives of Americans by declaring a �War on Poverty� on January 8, 1964. The Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) was signed into law on August 20, 1964. This Act created the Office of Economic Opportunity that was to expand the programs that President Kennedy had begun.

Community Action Agencies were formed across the country to provide job training, education, economic development, health care delivery, legal services, volunteerism, and a vast array of other, innovative services. CAA�s were used as �innovators and testing ground� for new programs, and under President Nixon, the most successful programs were taken to be administered by other federal agencies. Some of the programs included: Job Corp, National Youth Corp, Family Planning Community Health Centers, Legal Services, VISTA, Foster Grandparents, Economic Development, Neighborhood Centers, Summer Youth Programs, Adult Basic Education, Senior Centers, Congregate Meal Preparation, Weatherization, and others.

Community Action remains the innovative testing ground for programs and services to help families and individuals become self-sufficient and to improve the community and protect the rights and dignity of our citizens. We continue to administer Head Start, Weatherization, Housing and Homeless Programs, Senior Meals and Activities, Emergency Assistance, Mass Commodity Distribution, Prescription Assistance, LIHEAP (Energy Assistance for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and Youth Programs. We strive to improve our services to our clients and our community as we partner with non-profit agencies, local, State and Federal government, elected officials, the business and education communities and the community at large. We work diligently to provide human services delivery, advocacy for the low-income, and community building throughout our neighborhoods, our communities, and our country.

In our 13-county service area (Burke, Columbia, Emanuel, Glascock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Warren & Wilkes Counties in Georgia), 71,583 people were living in poverty (17.5% of population) as measured by the 2000 United States Census. The effects and consequences of impoverishment can be devastating for a family, a community, a country. CSRA EOA, Inc. engages in a variety of strategies to assist low-income families and individuals become more self-sufficient.