May is Community Action Month: Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) celebrating 54 years in Allamakee County


NEICAC Allamakee County Board members ... Serving as Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) Board of Directors members for Allamakee County are, left to right, Marcia Hesse and Dan Byrnes. Not pictured is board member Jenny Cole. Submitted photo.

The month of May is “Community Action Month” and Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) has been serving the residents of northeast Iowa for 54 years. NEICAC is a part of the National Community Action Network - over 1,000 community action agencies serving the entire United States.

In Iowa, there are 17 community action agencies, serving all 99 counties. NEICAC serves Allamakee, Bremer, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties.

Dan Byrnes, Marcia Hesse and Jenny Cole represent Allamakee County on NEICAC’s Board of Directors.  Additionally, Byrnes is the Board Secretary/Treasurer and the Chair of the Finance Committee. Hesse and Cole both serve on the Public Relations/Media Committee.

Agency-wide, in 2018, NEICAC served an unduplicated 4,523 households, containing 10,649 individuals.  In Allamakee County, all of NEICAC’s programs and services are available. Through NEICAC’s Family Service Offices in Waukon and Postville, NEICAC served an unduplicated 1,858 individuals in Allamakee County in 2018 - this does not include those that were only using EARL Public Transit.

In just Allamakee County, NEICAC:

 - Provided 227 households with counseling/information and/or referrals
- Provided 114 households with crisis assistance, primarily for utilities, but also some rent assistance to prevent eviction
- Provided financial literacy/budgeting classes to 86 households
- Provided case management for 18 families through the Family Development and Self-Sufficiency program (FaDSS)
- Provided Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention information to 370 individuals
- EARL Public Transit provided over 22,480 one-way rides
- Weatherized 18 homes
- Assisted 12 households with the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program (Disaster Assistance).

Through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), NEICAC provided supplemental payments to the heating energy provider for 558 Allamakee County households.

NEICAC also maintains four Head Start classrooms in Allamakee County, two in Waukon and two in Postville. A total of 88 children attended these Head Start classrooms in 2018. In Allamakee County, NEICAC also operates an Early Head Start program that served 46 Allamakee County households this past year.

NEICAC’s Housing Program has completed three Lease-Purchase new construction homes in Allamakee County, two in Postville and one in Waukon. NEICAC is starting construction on a senior four-plex in Postville this summer.

Anyone who would like more information about NEICAC, NEICAC programs and services in Allamakee County can visit NEICAC’s website, www.neicac.org.