Author Archives: Sarah Hackman
Uniting Missourians to End Poverty
Hundreds gather at the 2016 Missouri Poverty Summit
Nearly 350 Missourians gathered at the Capitol Plaza Hotel last Wednesday, April 27. Uniting them was a common cause: to end poverty in Missouri. Poverty is a multifaceted issue with many causes and conditions unique to different communities. The 2016 #MOPovertySummit focused on community-based solutions to addressing poverty statewide. Check out some pictures and social media highlights below. Become a member of Missourians to End Poverty on the website: www.MOEndPoverty.org
5 Numbers about Missouri Hunger
Hunger affects hundreds of thousands of Missourians every day. Missouri families in poverty, and even those above the poverty level, struggle to put enough food on the table. Hunger matters because it impacts health, education, and the family and economic security of current and future generations in our state. Check out the infographic below to Missouri hunger by the numbers:
5 Tips to Boost Productivity:
Our favorite free online resources for nonprofits
Nonprofits have a variety of free resources right at their fingertips. But with so many online applications, you may not know where to start. We’ve curated some of our team’s favorite apps and websites to boost productivity:
1. Project Management: Asana
Asana is an digital project management tool that is free for up to 15 people. The MACA team has been piloting the tool, and we like the project-based approach to tasks and accountability. Asana is customizable, so individuals with different work styles can personalize it to their needs. If you’re looking for a digital project management tool, Asana might be a good place for your team to start! Learn more in the video below:
2. Time Management : StayFocusd Google Chrome extension
When you sit down to work, it’s easy to get pulled in a thousand different directions. With the Google Chrome extension StayFocusd, you can zone in on your tasks. When you use this extension you can block out time-wasting sites for an hour, all day, or altogether. Conquer the urge to multitask by zoning in on one thing at a time! Get the extension here.
3. Email accessibility: Outlook mobile app
Depending on your work preference, you may want to have unlimited work email access. Microsoft Outlook has both iPhone and Android mobile apps so you can receive work emails on-the-go. Grab the app on your phone’s app store.
4. Document conversion: SmallPDF.com
Do you ever have a PDF file that you need to edit? This nifty website allows you to convert many different documents and files to make them editable. SmallPDF.com is completely secure, and it makes file conversion a matter of seconds! Check it out here.
5. File sharing: Dropbox & Google Drive
Converting files to cloud-based storage makes sense sometimes. With apps like Dropbox or Google Drive, your team can share documents and access them remotely. This comes in handy if you’re out of town, or you need to allow multiple people access to a file that’s too big for email. Get an account free Dropbox account here.
We hope a few of these nifty tips help boost productivity at your nonprofit! Subscribe to the blog to receive more nonprofit resources right to your inbox. >>>
Cafe Via Roma: Dine for Social Good
Why you’ll love Cafe Via Roma
On the corner across from the Missouri State Capitol is Jefferson City’s only social enterprise restaurant: Cafe Via Roma. Known around town for its soups, salads and sandwiches, the Cafe has some unique characteristics that may surprise you. Read on to find out why you’ll love the Cafe:
Cafe Via Roma is a social enterprise managed by Central Missouri Community Action (CMCA).
A social enterprise is an organization that utilizes commercial strategies for a social good. The cafe supports the nonprofit work CMCA in its mission of building healthy communities. Learn more about CMCA here.
Cafe Via Roma helps people and changes lives.
The Cafe fights poverty by employing current and former Missouri Work Assistance participants, as they transition from public assistance to self-sufficiency. Through jobs skills training, work readiness, and direct knowledge transfer, Cafe Via Roma helps lift people out of poverty.
Cafe Via Roma caters to you!
In addition to serving soups, salads and sandwiches daily, the cafe also caters special events. Cafe Via Roma offers delicious food and professional service for a wide variety of events including breakfasts, business meetings, luncheons, trainings and company functions. Call (573) 636-8771 today to schedule Cafe Via Roma catering for your next event.
The next time you’re in Jefferson City, help people and change lives by paying a visit to Cafe Via Roma!
Cafe Via Roma
105 West High Street
Jefferson City, MO
573-636-8771
Hours: Mon – Fri 6:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sat 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
MACA is hiring a Training Manager!
Missouri Association for Community Action is hiring! We are looking for a full-time experienced Training Manager in our Jefferson City office to help strengthen our network. Interested? Read more here: Continue reading
Four reasons you should attend the 2016 Missouri Poverty Summit
MACA is a member of Missourians to End Poverty, a nonpartisan coalition of nonprofits, organizations, businesses and community members dedicated to ending poverty. Missourians to End Poverty is hosting the 2016 Missouri Poverty Summit this year on Wednesday, April 27 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel. To register for the all-day event, click here.
Four reasons you should attend the 2016 Missouri Poverty Summit:
- + You care about poverty. More than 900,000 Missourians live in poverty. This includes more than 280,000 children. The 2016 Missouri Poverty Summit will highlight the current scope of poverty in our state. This will include the most recent data around five elements of poverty: food, education, health, housing & energy, and family & economic security. Sharing is caring, and sharing this information with your community will help raise poverty awareness and understanding in Missouri.
- + You believe in community approaches to poverty. Missouri is a diverse state. Approaches to poverty for an urban community will look vastly different than a rural community. In the afternoon, the Poverty Summit will have a panel of speakers who will discuss their community approaches to fighting poverty. They will share best practices and lessons learned from their community initiatives.
- + You want to learn about inter-generational poverty solutions. The Poverty Summit’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of the Jennings School District. Dr. Anderson recently received national media attention for her holistic approach to poverty. She focuses on removing the barriers that poverty creates for children in her school district.
- + You want to meet other Missourians who want to end poverty. The all-day conference begins at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude at 4 p.m. It is hosted by Missourians to End Poverty, which is a nonpartisan coalition of nonprofits, businesses, organizations and individuals from around the state. You will have the opportunity to meet others passionate about addressing poverty in our state and share best practices. We hope to see you there!
Advocacy for All
3 simple ways to make a difference today
Sometimes, we have the ability to make a difference but we don’t know where to start. Advocacy is a great place to begin because anyone can be an advocate! The Alliance for Justice defines advocacy as,”any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others.” How do you get started? The following are three simple steps you can take to advocate for your cause:
1. Let your voice be heard
Let your elected representatives hear your voice on issues that you are passionate about. This can be through a good old-fashioned letter, an email, or even a tweet! Don’t know who your elected officials are? Visit here to find your state and federal legislators and their contact information.
2. Build relationships with your elected officials
Ready to take your advocacy to the next level? A face-to-face meeting with a legislator is a great way to make sure your issues are heard. You might not know where to start, so we’ve created this infographic with tips and tricks to help you lay the foundation for your relationships.
3. Advocate to friends and family
Share information on social media with your friends or family about your cause. This could be via an interesting news article, infographic or blog post you come across. Be sure to personalize why you think it matters, and let friends and family discuss your issue. And of course, always be respectful and open to others’ views and ideas! Check back on our Facebook page daily for interesting articles you can “share” with your networks.
Want more information on how to be an advocate? Visit our Virtual Advocacy Center here!
Top 4 reasons to follow our new blog
Stay in touch with the Community Action Network
Welcome to the brand new Missouri Association for Community Action blog! We are looking forward to sharing more about our agencies, our people, and our impact with you. Not convinced yet? Read on for the Top 4 Reasons to follow our new blog!
1. Discover Our Network
The Community Action Network has 19 nonprofit Community Action Agencies that work in every county (and the City of St. Louis) in our state. That’s more than 3,000 staff helping people and changing lives in their local communities. We are excited to use this blog as platform to highlight Missouri’s Community Action Agencies, innovative programs, as well as the talented and dedicated people who make Community Action succeed! Do you know someone from Community Action you think should be highlighted on the blog? Contact us here!
2. Raise Poverty Awareness
We want to help raise poverty awareness in our state. We’ll do this by sharing relevant articles, infographics, and the latest Missouri poverty data from our proprietary Community Needs Assessment Tool. By reading our blog, you’ll have the opportunity to keep up-to-date with the five elements of poverty: food, health, education, family & economic security, and housing & energy. Come across something interesting we should feature? Send it our way!
3. Access Nonprofit Resources
We are excited to share helpful resources with Missouri nonprofits, including our Community Action Agencies! From recommended readings, to statewide nonprofit trainings, we will share best practices and networking opportunities with you.
 
4. Get Involved + Make a Difference
Love Community Action, but don’t know how to help? We’ll showcase different ways to get involved in Community Action Agencies and at MACA! We will feature Community Action events and volunteer opportunities to involve you in our mission of helping people and changing lives!
So what are you waiting for? Subscribe below to stay in-the-know with our Community Action Network!
