Economic Impact Awards Charitable Organization Finalist: Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.

In 2006, OACAC served 53,982 people with a $21.6 million budget.

“They’re people who live and work in the communities,” said OACAC Executive Director Carl Rosenkranz, who came to the nonprofit agency in 1971 and became director in 1974.

Aside from its Springfield base at 215 S. Barnes Ave., OACAC has 44 Head Start centers, 10 neighborhood centers, 12 family planning sites and a weatherization office.

The organization employs more than 400 people, in addition to program substitutes and foster grandparents, Rosenkranz said.

Last year, OACAC received $1.79 million in cash donations, volunteer hours, travel expenses and donations of goods and services.

The remainder of funding for the organization – more than 90 percent of the budget – comes from federal or state government, according to Rosenkranz.

Most of those dollars are infused into the organization’s 10-county service area.

“We’re able to invest federal and state dollars in our local community, so it’s a way for us to give back,” said Resource Development Director Michelle Fittro, whose last day on the job was June 27.

Fittro has relocated to Bentonville, Ark., where her husband got a new job. She is now working at Arvest Bank.

OACAC serves Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties in southwest Missouri.

Major programs within OACAC include Head Start, a preschool experience for children in low-income families who are given meals, dental and health screenings and other services; foster grandparents, an opportunity for people age 60 and older to work one-on-one with children; and weatherization, a free service to eligible homeowners or renters to have crews insulate homes, perform infiltration tests and repair heating systems.

Other programs include rent subsidization and energy assistance for income-eligible households, family planning and the Missourians Building Assets program.

Missourians Building Assets is a savings program that provides participants with education, training, support and network connections they can use to purchase their first homes, start small businesses or earn their bachelor’s degrees. OACAC has one neighborhood center in each of the counties it serves.

Those centers offer emergency assistance, life skills workshops, family support and referrals to other community programs.

Projects are geared to eliminate unemployment, inadequate education and illiteracy, inadequate housing, inadequate available income, unmet emergencies and malnutrition.

Through its efforts – despite challenges with slim and declining funding levels, rising operational costs and a growing demand for services – individuals served by OACAC often go on to lead successful lives, Fittro said.

“A lot of our clients have gone on to open small businesses, and we still have contact from them,” she said. “They’ll send us gift certificates and things like that as a thank you, because now they’re back up on their feet and they’re very successful.”

Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.

Address: 215 S. Barnes Ave., Springfield, MO 65802

Phone: (417) 862-4314

Web site: www.oacac-caa.org

Employees: 400

2006 Budget: $21.6 million[[In-content Ad]]