Wisconsin Community Action Program Association: Innovation seeks to reduce poverty in era of diminished resources

Report Shows How Wisconsin Community Action Agencies Engage Innovative Energy Efficiency and Waste Reduction Practices

Contact: Richard Schlimm, Executive Director – WISCAP

(608) 244-4422

Madison – From food warehouse composting to aquaponic business development assistance, Wisconsin’s 16 Community Action Agencies are engaged in a wide range of sustainable “green” practices to reduce poverty in an era of diminished resources.

“The state’s community action agencies are contributing on many fronts – providing job skills in energy efficient housing construction, recycling electronic hardware, weatherizing nearly a thousand homes per month,” stated Richard Schlimm, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association (WISCAP).

Community Action Agencies are local organizations with anti-poverty missions to help low-income residents achieve economic self-sufficiency. To accomplish this, agencies operate a number of programs to provide economic security and opportunity, from food security to job training and economic development support.

Taking the position that unsustainable practices only serve to increase poverty over time, the agencies are constantly searching for ways that low-income residents and communities can benefit from new technologies and practices that reduce waste, conserve limited valuable food and energy resources, increase efficiency and create stronger and more sustainable local economies.

Several of these efforts are highlighted in the report, All Things Green released today by WISCAP, the statewide trade association for Wisconsin’s Community Action Agencies. Contact information for the agency staff involved in each project is included in the report.

“Community Action Agencies have always tackled great challenges to reduce poverty. And these challenges are even greater today with weak economies and diminished resources. The green efforts of these agencies give us hope for the future”, concluded Schlimm.

Follow this Link to view or download a copy of the “All Things Green” Report:

http://www.wiscap.org/pdfs/All%20Things%20Green%20Report%20FINAL.pdf