There are almost a thousand agencies around the country called "community action programs", whose mandates are to reduce the extent and impact of poverty in a given area, and date to the 1960s War on Poverty launched by the administration of LBJ. Our guest today, Eddy Riou, is the executive director of SCCAP ("skap"), the South Central Community Action Program, which is based in Bloomington. He lays out all the programs that they manage, involving Head Start, weatherization, housing choice vouchers, energy assistance, and many others. SCCAP is the local operator of state and federal programs designed to meet the specific needs of low-income individuals and families. It also advocates for and represents the interests of people with low incomes, helps them to represent themselves, and coordinates with other agencies in the same sector.

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