West Central Missouri Community Action Agency

What West Central Missouri Community Action Agency does

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency is a private non-profit Community Action Agency (CAA) founded in 1965 under the federal Community Action Program created by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act. Headquartered in Appleton City, Missouri, the organization serves a 9-county region in west central Missouri (Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Morgan, St. Clair, and Vernon Counties) with additional multi-family housing in Jackson County and adjacent services via its affiliated New Growth Community Development Corporation, which extends reach into additional Missouri counties and two Kansas counties. The agency employs 251-500 staff, is governed by an 18-member tripartite board defined by federal statute, and holds 11 Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP) credentials on staff.

The service portfolio is organized across two main tracks. The Community Services track comprises utility assistance (LIHEAP with winter ECIP up to $800 and summer ECIP up to $300), the Weatherization Assistance Program and HeRO home repair offering (achieving an average 30% reduction in home energy consumption), two food pantries serving 800+ neighbors monthly, the FACES community engagement program, the Senior Care program for adults 65+, REALL and Poverty Simulations, Workforce Solutions (SkillUP and WIOA), and the Workforce YOU collaborative initiative with four pillars (Education & Skills Training, Childcare, Transportation, Housing). The Housing track comprises the St. Clair County Public Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher Program (with Family Self-Sufficiency escrow and HCV Homeownership components, ~1-year average waiting list, 10-county service area), the Transitions Services / Emergency Solutions Grant / Rapid Rehousing program aligned with Housing First, and a 422-unit multi-family housing portfolio across 12 properties in 7 counties, of which over 80% are senior-designated and 12 units serve developmentally disabled residents.

The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. Revenue streams include federal pass-through grants from U.S. DHHS (via Missouri DSS), HUD, DOE, USDA, state funding, unrestricted United Way Impact 100 trust-based philanthropy, and private donations via Givelify. Multi-family housing rents are set at 30% of adjusted income minus utility allowance, with 100% rental assistance available for qualified senior applicants. Service delivery is multimodal: three physical hub offices (Appleton City, Raymore, El Dorado Springs), a Mobile Action Center providing weekly scheduled service to eight counties on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 12 on-site multi-family housing properties, and digital channels including the wcmcaa.myhousing.com HCV portal, Formstack and PlatoForms intake forms, SurveyMonkey community assessments, Constant Contact newsletters, and Zoom for virtual meetings.

Name

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency

Legal name

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency

Website

https://wcmcaa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1965

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency is a private non-profit Community Action Agency founded in 1965, serving low-income residents across nine west central Missouri counties through utility assistance, affordable housing, food pantries, workforce development, and senior services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Appleton City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices16 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Community Services Block Grant (CSBG): Core federal funding for the Community Action Agency, supporting operations across all programs.
2. Federal pass-through grants (U.S. DHHS, Missouri DSS):
3. LIHEAP / Weatherization Assistance Program (DOE): Federal utility assistance grants (LIHEAP) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) funded through the U.S. Department of Energy for low-income home energy bills and home weatherization.
4. Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG): Federal HUD grant program providing emergency assistance to homeless, imminently homeless, and domestic violence survivors; housing-focused low-barrier approach aligned with Housing First policy.
5. Multi-Family Housing rental income: Income from 422 units of multi-family housing across 12 properties; rent set at 30% of adjusted income minus utility allowance for subsidized/senior/special needs residents.
6. USDA Farm to School Grant: Two-year federal grant to expand local produce in Nevada and El Dorado Springs school districts; West Central was one of two Missouri entities to receive the award.
7. Donations and fundraising events: Individual donations via Givelify, Casino Night Fundraiser (tickets $50, sponsorships $250-$3,000), and targeted campaigns (Food Pantries, Multi-Family Housing, Workforce YOU, Weatherization, etc.).
8. United Way unrestricted Impact 100 funding: Unrestricted annual funding from United Way of Greater Kansas City's Impact 100 initiative; supports Raymore Food Pantry and Cass County programs.
9. Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) escrow program: Five-year (with possible two-year extension) Contract of Participation where the difference between tenant rent and increased rent as earned income rises is deposited into an interest-bearing escrow account claimed upon program completion.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency is a private non-profit Community Action Agency that delivers a portfolio of federally and state-funded anti-poverty programs across a nine-county region in west central Missouri. Its core offerings include utility bill assistance (LIHEAP), home weatherization and HeRO repair, Housing Choice Vouchers and Family Self-Sufficiency administration through the St. Clair County PHA, ownership and management of 422 units of multi-family housing across 12 properties, food pantries serving 800+ neighbors monthly, workforce training (SkillUP, WIOA, Workforce YOU, GED/ESL), senior care, rural transportation (New Growth Transit Rides to Health & Wealth), and emergency housing/rapid re-housing services. Services are free or heavily subsidized to income-eligible households, with multi-family rents set at 30% of adjusted income per HUD guidelines.

Product overview

West Central Missouri Community Action Agency is a non-profit Community Action Agency (CAA) — founded in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty — that delivers a portfolio of social-service programs rather than a single unified software product. The portfolio is organized around two connected service tracks: a Community Services track comprising the Family & Community Engagement Strategies (FACES) program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Weatherization & HeRO home energy/repair offering, the Food Pantries in Raymore and Appleton City, and the Senior Care Program; and a Housing track comprising the St. Clair County Public Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher Program (with the Family Self-Sufficiency Program and HCV Homeownership Program), the Transitions Services / Emergency Solutions Grant / Rapid Rehousing offering, and the agency's owned Multi-Family Housing Portfolio of 422 units across 12 properties (including Antioch Hills, Appleton Estates, Cedar Ridge, Greenleaf Estates, Greyhound Apartments, Hawthorn Estates, Hickory Estates, Maplewood Estates, Oaktree Villa, Prairie Estates, Walnut Estates, and Willow Estates). A Workforce development track layers on Workforce YOU (a four-pillar collaborative initiative covering Education & Skills Training, Childcare, Transportation, and Housing) and Workforce Solutions (SkillUP & WIOA). Outreach and mobility are delivered via the Mobile Action Center (MAC) and the New Growth Transit volunteer-driver Rides to Health and Wealth program. West Central's affiliated nonprofit, New Growth Community Development Corporation, extends the portfolio with the New Growth Women's Business Center, New Growth Capital Microenterprise Financing, the Credit Building program, the Food Systems program, and the Heartland Regional Food Business Center, and the agency also runs REALL/Poverty Simulations and the Kidz Inc. Cass County childcare partnership. The portfolio is delivered through digital touchpoints including the wcmcaa.org WordPress site, the wcmcaa.myhousing.com HCV portal, SurveyMonkey-hosted surveys, Constant Contact newsletters, Formstack intake forms, a Platoforms online job application, and Givelify-powered donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• New Growth Community Development Corporation: Affiliated organization providing food systems, women's business center, credit building, microenterprise financing, and regional food business center services.
• New Growth Women's Business Center
• New Growth Transit
• Heartland Regional Food Business Center
• Workforce YOU

Products and services

• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Federally funded program (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services via Missouri DSS) that provides one-time Energy Assistance payments to help income-eligible households pay main heating/cooling bills (Oct–May) and crisis intervention funds (Winter ECIP up to $800, Summer ECIP up to $300) for imminent disconnects or propane/electric emergencies.
• Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) & HeRO (Home Energy Repair Opportunity) Home Enrichment program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that improves energy efficiency through insulation, air duct sealing, storm windows/doors, and weather stripping. HeRO addresses critical home repairs for low- and moderate-income homeowners. The agency reports the average home reduces energy consumption by 30% after receiving services.
• St. Clair County Public Housing Authority (PHA) — Housing Choice Voucher Program Administers the federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program for the St. Clair County PHA, including waiting list management, applicant/owner briefings, annual recertification, portability, FSS escrow, and HCV Homeownership Program. Service area spans north counties (Andrew, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb, Grundy, Harrison, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Putnam, Sullivan) and south counties (Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Morgan, St. Clair, Vernon, Jackson/Grandview).
• Transitions Services (Emergency Solutions Grant / Rapid Rehousing) Federal ESG-funded program providing low-barrier Housing First assistance (rental assistance, utility deposits, case management) for literally homeless or imminently homeless households. West Central also serves as a regional access point for the Missouri Coordinated Entry System and conducts the annual Point in Time Count.
• Multi-Family Housing Portfolio (422 units across 12 properties) West Central develops and manages 422 units across 12 properties in 7 counties (Cass, Jackson, Henry, St. Clair, Cedar, Hickory, Benton). Over 80% are senior housing and 12 units are for individuals with special needs; properties include Antioch Hills (90-unit family), Appleton Estates, Cedar Ridge, Greenleaf Estates, Greyhound Apartments, Hawthorn Estates, Hickory Estates, Maplewood Estates, Oaktree Villa, Prairie Estates, Walnut Estates, and Willow Estates. Also a partner in three other developments totaling 72 units.
• Food Pantries (Raymore & Appleton City) Operates two food pantries serving 800+ neighbors in need per month. Raymore Pantry operates 1st & 3rd Tuesday; Appleton City Pantry operates 2nd & 4th Wednesday. Emergency food is available anytime; proxy pickups allowed; no one is turned away.
• Workforce YOU Collaborative Cass County initiative with four pillars: Education & Skills Training, Childcare, Transportation, and Housing. Aims to address barriers to employment via task forces with goals such as a 20% increase in affordable housing, 25% increase in child care availability, and 30% increase in residents completing skills training. Partners include the Training & Technical Center of Cass County.
• Workforce Solutions — SkillUP & WIOA SkillUP helps SNAP recipients gain skills, certifications, and employer connections. WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) helps Cass & Jackson County residents access employment, education, training, and supportive services (tuition assistance, trade credentials in IT, Warehouse, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Finance, Construction, Business Services, Transportation).
• Family & Community Engagement Strategies (FACES) Connects individuals and communities to resources in Employment, Education, Income Infrastructure & Asset Building, Housing, Health/Social Behavioral Development, and Civic Engagement. Includes SkillUP/WIOA, Family Engagement, Community Engagement, Poverty Simulations, REALL Simulations, Step Up to Leadership Classes, Financial Education, Resource Referrals, and Food Pantry coordination.
• REALL & Poverty Simulations Poverty Simulations provide adults with a "day in the life" workshop of challenges faced by low-income individuals/families. REALL (Reality Enrichment and Life Lessons) is a simulation for 9th-grade students, designed to challenge youth to think critically about how choices made in adolescence may have consequences in adulthood. Both offered at no charge to community groups.
• Senior Care Program Serves seniors 65+ in West Central's nine-county region (Bates, Benton, Cass, Cedar, Henry, Hickory, Morgan, St. Clair, Vernon) to maintain independent living. Includes intake/needs assessment, resource connection, the Cyber Seniors tech-help program, Senior Care Pen Pal Program, and coordination with home-delivered meals, transportation, Medicare/Medicaid advisors, SNAP, and weatherization resources.
• Rides to Health and Wealth (New Growth Transit) Regional mobility service coordinating volunteer drivers for medical, shopping, and other trips. Partnership with Missouri Rural Health Association; healthcare partners include Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare and Katy Trail Community Health.
• Mobile Action Center (MAC) Mobile outreach unit providing weekly scheduled service to eight counties on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, bringing utility, food, housing, and workforce assistance directly to rural communities.
• New Growth Community Development Corporation (CDC) Affiliated non-profit providing food systems, women's business center, credit building, microenterprise financing, and regional food business center services. Programs include New Growth Women's Business Center, New Growth Capital Microenterprise Financing, Credit Building, Food Systems, and the Heartland Regional Food Business Center.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average 30% reduction in home energy consumption after weatherization services
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core annual funder, core food pantry partner, core food network partner, core partner and secondary partner.

• United Way of Greater Kansas Cityflagship / core annual funderGTM or Marketing PartnerUnited Way Impact 100 initiative provides unrestricted annual funding to West Central, supporting programs including the Raymore Food Pantry and broader Cass County community services. Quote from Jamie Oberly (Chief Community Services Officer): 'United Way's support enables us to expand our reach and deepen our impact, particularly in Cass County.' The 2025 cohort includes 100 organizations serving the six-county Greater Kansas City area.
• Ozarks Food Harvestcore food pantry partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with Hickory County CARES (a featured West Central community partner) to allow the food pantry to multiply purchasing power 10x per dollar; partnership enabled distribution growth from 120,000 lbs (2012) to 355,000 lbs (2018) to over 2 million lbs (2021).
• Harvesters – The Community Food Networkcore food network partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood bank partner that enables West Central to purchase food at significantly lower costs; the food-locator website is referenced for additional food pantry resources. Feeding Missouri power: every $1 donated can provide up to 3 meals through Missouri food banks.
• Missouri Rural Health Associationcore partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on volunteer driver network organizing and supporting Rides to Health & Wealth project, addressing rural transportation gaps.
• Disabled American Veterans (DAV)secondary partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides free shuttle from Joplin to medical services in Kansas City with stops along Interstate 49. West Central's Rides to Health & Wealth project helps veterans and rural residents reach DAV shuttle stops (e.g., in Butler, MO).
• Golden Valley Memorial Healthcaresecondary partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare partner using Rides to Health & Wealth to assist patients in Henry, Morgan, and Benton County service areas; addresses healthcare transportation barriers.
• Katy Trail Community Healthsecondary partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity health partner using Rides to Health & Wealth service to assist patients in service area.
• Compass Healthsecondary partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBehavioral health partner that refers developmentally disabled applicants to Cedar Ridge Apartments (12-unit housing for developmentally disabled in El Dorado Springs, MO); all applicants must be referred by Compass Health.
• University of Missouri Extensioncore partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published a business-oriented report 'SOLVING MISSOURI'S CHILD CARE PUZZLE' with West Central's New Growth Women's Business Center; focused on Missouri's chronic child care crisis and economic impact.
• Kidz Inc. (Cass County)secondary partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerNew childcare partnership for Cass County families at the Harrisonville Early Childhood Center; 48 slots for ages 6 weeks to 4 years; M–F, 6 a.m.–6 p.m. Enrollment via KidzInc.com.
• Kansas City Public Schools (Adult Education & Literacy)core partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivers FREE GED and ESL classes at West Central's Thompson Campus in Raymore; contact 816-418-7799, [email protected].
• Training & Technical Center of Cass Countysecondary partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorkforce training facility at 6107 E 155th St., Suite 100, Belton, MO 64012; West Central is the workforce partner.
• Hickory County CARES (HCCARES)secondary partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerVolunteer-driven rural food pantry and thrift store; featured non-profit for West Central's First Annual Festival of Charity; supported by West Central's donation drives.
• Missouri Coordinated Entry Systemcore partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerWest Central serves as a regional access point for the statewide Missouri Coordinated Entry System and participates in the annual Point in Time Count (PITC) of unsheltered persons.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Central Missouri Community Action Agency: A Missouri-based CAA serving multiple counties with utility assistance, weatherization, housing, and food programs. Operates the same federally designated Community Action Agency model under CSBG/LIHEAP/HUD funding streams, making it the closest structural peer to West Central.
• Mercy Housing: One of the largest nonprofit affordable housing developers and operators in the U.S., combining HUD-funded rental housing with resident services. West Central's 422-unit multi-family housing portfolio plus Service Coordination program is a regional-scale analog of Mercy Housing's integrated housing-plus-services model.
• National Church Residences: Nonprofit developer/operator of affordable senior housing and services, with the majority of units dedicated to seniors 62+. West Central's senior-heavy portfolio (over 80% of units are senior-designated) and Service Coordination program mirror National Church Residences' integrated aging-in-place model.
• Goodwill of Western Missouri & Eastern Kansas: Kansas City-area Goodwill operating workforce development, skills training, and reentry programs funded in part by WIOA and state workforce dollars. Directly comparable to West Central's SkillUP, WIOA, Workforce YOU, and GED/ESL programs in target population and funding mechanism.
• East Missouri Action Agency: Federally designated CAA serving a multi-county region in eastern Missouri with housing, energy, and workforce programs. One of the 19 CAAs in Missouri, directly comparable to West Central in funding mix, governance structure, and service portfolio.

Others

• Harvesters – The Community Food Network: Kansas City regional food bank and Feeding America affiliate providing bulk-purchasing and food-distribution infrastructure to West Central's food pantries in Cass County and elsewhere. Adjacent enabling role in West Central's food security program.
• Ozarks Food Harvest: Springfield-based regional food bank distributing millions of pounds of food annually and a named West Central partner via the Hickory County CARES relationship. Comparable food-system infrastructure role and Feeding Missouri affiliation.
• United Way of Greater Kansas City: Regional funder and Impact 100 program sponsor providing unrestricted trust-based funding to West Central and ~99 other regional nonprofits. Functionally a strategic funder and sector convener rather than a peer operator, but tightly linked to West Central's funding pipeline.
• Compass Health Network: Missouri-based nonprofit behavioral health and disability services provider and named referral partner for West Central's Cedar Ridge housing for the developmentally disabled. Comparable community-services nonprofit operating in the same nine-county region with overlapping clientele.

Broad incumbents

• Volunteers of America National Services: National nonprofit operating housing, behavioral health, veteran services, and anti-poverty programs across the country. A scaled, multi-vertical nonprofit operator whose portfolio breadth and federal-grant capture strategy closely tracks West Central's FACES + housing + workforce approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WestCentralCares
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/west-central-missouri-community-action-agency

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles28 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about West Central Missouri Community Action Agency