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Home: All News: Cindy Lehs Earns National Certification:

Cindy Lehs Earns National Certification

Cindy Lehs was one of 69 anti-poverty advocates who recently received the Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP) credential from the national Community Action Partnership. The CCAP designation is earned after Community Action managers and leaders successfully complete a detailed assessment of their knowledge of poverty theories, causes, and remedies; ability to help low-income families achieve economic stability; and comprehension of the mission, vision and values of Community Action. To date, there are nearly 400 CCAPs across the country representing rural, urban, and suburban Community Action Agencies.

The CCAP program, established in 1993, provides individuals such as Lehs with a coordinated method to validate their grasp of an extensive body of knowledge covering poverty and Community Action history, and highlight how they are helping low-income families achieve economic independence. In order to become a CCAP, she had to prepare a comprehensive record of her leadership and involvement in anti-poverty initiatives and Community Action on the local, state, and national levels; develop a portfolio documenting her education and accomplishments, and pass a written exam.

“During these uncertain economic times, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the causes and conditions of poverty in order to enhance my ability to help my program participants successfully navigate any number of challenges,” said Lehs. “The CCAP process helped me achieve this by reinforcing Community Action’s history, vision, values and Code of Ethics and how all that has shaped our capacity to help low-income families overcome obstacles and achieve economic stability.”

“Our employees are juggling more responsibilities than ever before due to the economy—there’s been a significant increase in the amount of people needing assistance, but funding and budget issues on the local, state, and national level are creating major challenges and concerns,” said Don Mathis, President and CEO of the Community Action Partnership. ‘The CCAP process trains our leaders and front line staff in Community Action’s best practices and provides them with a comprehensive knowledge base that can be immediately applied to some of the most difficult situations they confront.”

North Iowa Community Action Organization (NICAO) is one of the 18 Community Action Agencies in the State of Iowa, part of the national network of Community Action Organizations. NICAO is a private, not-for-profit organization with office locations and Head Start classrooms is nine North Central Iowa counties serving: Butler, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Kossuth, Mitchell, Winnebago, and Worth counties. The Promise of North Iowa Community Action is to change people’s lives, to embody the spirit of hope, to improve communities, and to make North Central Iowa a better place to live.

Based in Washington, DC, the Community Action Partnership provides training and other services to more than 1,000 Community Action Agencies across America that are helping low-income people and families improve their lives, strengthen their communities and embody the spirit of hope. For more information, visit www.communityactionpartnership.com or follow the organization on Twitter, http://twitter.com/CAPartnership.

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