About Community Action

Trauma-Informed Care

People who live in poverty are more likely to experience trauma. Research shows that living in poverty creates an abnormally high-stress environment that greatly increases an individual’s risk for physical and mental health issues across the lifespan. Poverty is often accompanied by low-safety environments, with crime, violence, and abuse occurring at higher rates than in more affluent areas. 

Community Action operates through a trauma-informed lens, in everything that we do. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a model of care that acknowledges the impact of trauma on an individual's well-being and seeks to understand and respond to it. It's based on the understanding that trauma can affect a person's emotions, and relationships, and may have lifelong effects. TIC emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for everyone and aims to help people regain control of their lives.

Advocacy

Community Action’s role as advocate, is to both mitigate policies that cause or worsen the conditions of poverty, as well as identifying solutions that improve entire communities by serving the best interests of those living in poverty. Advocacy is folded into CA’S everyday work. CA staff members advocate for those that can’t advocate for themselves in a multitude of ways, including but not limited to: sharing client stories, directly lobbying policymakers, helping families navigate the child welfare system, working with utility companies to lower a client’s bill, etc.

Advocacy services are provided by Community Action at every level of service delivery.

Advocacy services involve professionals showing active support and effort to assist children, families, individuals, allied organizations, and the community-at-large pursue an idea, support a cause, or make a meaningful change in their lives or circumstances. Advocacy services are used by Community Action employees when assisting service participants in various ways, such as, but not limited to:

• A family applies for utility assistance but does not meet the eligibility requirements. Employees seek to find alternative ways to assist the family, including advocating for the family with utility providers and other service agencies;

• Period Poverty Awareness Day is scheduled at the Kansas Statehouse in January. Employees attend and meet with policymakers to educate about the reality of period poverty in Community Action’s service area;

• A family enrolled in Community Action’s Head Start Program is navigating their way through the Child Welfare System. The family’s assigned worker advocated for the child and family’s needs within the system in an effort to build the families ability to stay together.

Meet Our Leadership 

Alicia Walker

Interim Executive Director

Name

Ariel Unselt

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