This site provides information on how local Community Action Agencies are spending funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In the following pages you will find articles, photos, and videos describing how Agencies are using Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) funds to reduce poverty and revitalize low-income communities.

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), administered by the states, provides core funding to local agencies to reduce poverty, revitalize low-income communities and to empower low-income families to become self-sufficient.

CSBG is a federal, anti-poverty block grant which funds the operations of a state-administered network of local agencies. This CSBG network consists of more than 1,100 agencies that create, coordinate and deliver programs and services to low-income Americans in 99 percent of the nation's counties.

Most agencies in the CSBG network are Community Action Agencies (CAAs), created through the Economic Opportunity Act, a predecessor of the CSBG. Community representation and accountability are hallmarks of the CSBG network, where agencies are governed by a tri-partite board. This board structure consists of elected public officials, representatives of the low-income community, and appointed leaders from the private sector.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program reduces heating and cooling costs for low-income families, particularly for the elderly, people with disabilities, and children, by improving the energy efficiency of their homes while ensuring their health and safety.

The WAP was created in 1976 to assist low-income families who lacked resources to invest in energy efficiency. WAP is operated in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Native American tribes, and U.S. Territories. Funds are used to improve the energy efficiency of low-income homes using the most advanced technologies and testing protocols available in the housing industry. The energy conservation resulting from the efforts of state and local agencies helps our country reduce its dependence on foreign oil and decrease the cost of energy for families in need while improving the health and safety of their homes.