Community Action Agencies throughout the United States have been striving on behalf of the impoverished since their creation 62 years ago.
A major part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” programs to combat widespread poverty, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 established Action Agencies to empower communities with federal assistance for programs like Head Start, Job Corps, Neighborhood Youth Corps, and to fund legal services and community health centers.
The wheels of government turned so quickly to make this happen, it actually outpaced the creation of local organizations everywhere by several months.
Local History
The first steps to create the local Community Action Agency took place during a public meeting on Sunday, Feb. 27, 1966, when a committee was formed with Lt. Col. James Stinnett (USAF Ret.) elected temporary chairman of a 23-member panel tasked with applying for a charter as a private nonprofit organization, and coming up with a list of possible permanent board members.
According to a news report, the sum of $210,000 had been appropriated for a Community Action Program in Tom Green County in July of 1965.
“That money has just been lying there untouched since then and on June 30, that appropriation will be taken back,” Bert Adams with the Texas Office of Economic Opportunity told attendees, noting that the program wasn’t a some kind of giveaway scheme.
“This program is to be run by the community and its purpose is to provide services and facilities, not handouts,” he explained. “This agency should be broad and inclusive in scope.”
Adams went on to suggest the committee consist of a 30-person board, with representatives for health, welfare, education, local governments, several members from neighborhoods around town, and faith and community leaders, and strongly recommended they include some impoverished representatives as well.
The Action Agency soon came under the umbrella of the newly-created Concho Valley Council of Governments, a cooperative of the 14 county governments in the area organized in May of 1967 to administer state and federal programs.
Today, more than 1,000 Community Action Agencies form a network covering 99 percent of counties in the U.S., helping clients through assistance with housing and utility costs, home weatherization, veteran services and referrals to other agencies who can help them.
Striving for “Maximum Feasible Participation” the Action Agencies have empowered locals to manage and direct the programs meant to serve their communities.
Fast Facts
According to the agency’s 2025 report, there were an estimated 16,753 Individuals in the Concho Valley living in poverty, affecting more than 13,700 households.
Average yearly household income in the Concho Valley is $84,160, while the average household income in Texas is $102,197 annually, a difference of $18,037 — or $1,503 monthly.
The federal government considers an individual earning less than $15,650 yearly to be below the poverty line, or a household of four, $32,150.
An income of $32,150 works out to $2,679.16 per month, and with the average rent in San Angelo at around $1,400 — that represents 56 percent their income.
The problem is even more pronounced in large metro areas. As of May 2026, the average rent in Austin was $2,216 per month, or 89 percent of a poverty income.
According to the CVCAA 2025 report, 52 percent of households assisted had regular income through work, a retirement plan or Social Security.
What’s Next?
From CVCAA Executive Director Mike Burnett —
We’ll continue moving the Rock Rose Community Campus from vision to reality, working closely with city partners, planners, and service providers to build a place where our unhoused and low-income neighbors can find stability, care, and community. At the same time, our Community Care Coordination team will stay deeply engaged in long-term flood recovery – walking with families who are still rebuilding and stepping into new areas of assistance across West Texas as needs emerge. And through the COAD and Long-Term Recovery Group, we’ll keep strengthening regional resilience planning, so our community is better prepared before the next crisis ever hits.
About the Concho Valley Council of Governments
The CVCOG is one of 24 regional councils in Texas and is currently under the leadership of Executive Director Sarah Hernandez. The political subdivision serves as a bridge for federal and state programs to reach local communities, handling more than $270 million in grants since 1967.
