Dear John

Ordinarily I enjoy reflecting on the past year but this year, well . . . 2020 happened. We started the year by expanding our Head Start program into three new counties and by starting to plan to integrate a Financial Opportunity Center into our toolbox of services. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, everything changed. Our Family Resource Centers and Head Start centers had to close while we sorted out the information and guidance we were receiving. We shifted some employees to virtual work and set them up at home while we added safeguards for those who must work on-site. State and federal funders have been extraordinarily flexible throughout and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for helping us keep our programs operating. The team at CMCA has stepped up in every possible way to maintain services to people that need us and I am so proud to represent this group of caring, compassionate people. In addition, our donors, people like you, have supported us more than ever before. You recognize that contributions to CMCA are a good investment in your community and your neighbors. The need for our financial opportunity and other work supports like Head Start are more important than ever as our economy grinds out a few more rough quarters. We at CMCA have turned our attention to attracting more resources to central Missouri to serve those in need. Over the next couple of years, we will be part of the ongoing economic recovery as we all define our new reality together.

As if the pandemic were not enough, we are also experiencing social, racial, and political upheaval. Climate change is also bringing worse drought, worse flooding, worse fires,
and consuming our resources in so many unsustainable ways. For CMCA, we see that poor people and people of color and the LGBTQ community fair far worse in each of these circumstances. When one does not have resources to fall back on, and when families
are just barely getting by, the smallest crises sends them into a spiral of poverty. Central Missouri Community Action supports justice, equity, and inclusivity. Diversity and inclusion are not just catch phrases for us. Rather, diversity and inclusion are a celebration of what makes each of us different and all of us better. Black Lives Matter. Community Action
was created in the mid-1960’s during a period of racial awakening and we will be there supporting our communities until the last person gets a living wage and people of all races, cultures, and ethnicities gain equal footing in our society.

In peace and prosperity,