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About Community Action

 

The concept of Community Action was initially pioneered in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy through the introduction

of the “New Frontier.” This initiative brought together local officials, service providers and neighbors to address juvenile

delinquency in an effective and inexpensive manner. Building on the success of JFK’s program, activists began recruiting

people from all community sectors to plan and implement programs that would help life people out of poverty. The core

principle of these projects was the whole community working together to improve conditions for the disenfranchised.

 

President Lyndon B. Johnson expanded the policy ideas initiated during the Kennedy Adminstration. In his State of the

Union message to Congress in January, 1964, President Johnson declared: “Let us carry forward the plans and programs

of John F. Kennedy, not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right…This administration today,

here and now, declares an unconditional Ware of Poverty in America.”

 

Critical legislation born out of the “War of Poverty” was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which was designed to

eliminate poverty by providing opportunities for education, training, and employment for all. Many initiatives developed

through the Economic Opportunity Act are still in place today, including Community Action Agencies, like Wayne

Metropolitan Community Action Agency.