EICAP History

By now, of course, you know what EICAP means. You probably don't know its history. I'd like to tell you its history from a slightly different viewpoint than the "official line."

To understand EICAP you have to jump into the Way Back Time Machine and teleport yourself into the turbulent 1960's. Many major societal changes were unfolding during that halycon era.
Great strides in genuine social justice can trace their roots to the 1960's. One of them was the famous "War on Poverty."

You have to realize that poverty back then was an incredibly brutal circumstance. There are still a lot of people in poverty today but you might not recognize them. They might look pretty normal. Back then, people in poverty were quite the visual sight. Their homes were often rundown shacks. Their clothes could often be in tatters. Their physical appearance was terrible. If they drove a vehicle, it was often the most decrepit vehicle to be seen. Poverty had a physical, tangible side and it was very, very ugly by any definition. Poverty literally cried out to be tackled and eliminated--or at least subdued and morphed into today's version of poverty.

Today, the Federal gubmint creates a periodic income level that supposedly defines poverty. If you earn less, supposedly you are "in poverty." If you earn more, you aren't. It's a very arbitrary process these days and the income level is the final arbiter. My wife and I lived below the official poverty level for many years but we were not impoverished or in poverty. We had one of the highest quality lives that any human can hope for. We wanted for nothing and we had many resources for which to be thankful. We never once considered ourselves to be "in poverty." However, according to the Federal gubmint we were DEFINITELY in poverty because we were "living below the poverty level." If you are below that level these days, well you are "in poverty" and that's that.

However, let's go back to the 1960's. You didn't need an arbitrary income level to tell you who was in poverty and who wasn't. You could see it, smell it and understand it with your own eyes. To actually see the wretched neighborhoods as I did back then was often a gut wrenching experience. Anyone who said there wasn't poverty in America was an idiot with his/her head in the sand. And yet, there were the "denial people." I remember distinctly people who ridiculed Lyndon Johnson when he launched the War on Poverty. It was disgusting as whole neighborhoods in my Midwestern home town were as dirt poor as dirt poor can get.

It was from these circumstances that the concept of a "Community Action Partnership" arose.
It would have been impossible for any one single individual to help eradicate poverty in their community. By forming partnerships and alliances between individuals and organizations, it was at least possible to imagine that people working together could fight back at the societal decay of poverty. The more people who joined the "war on poverty," the more likely the potential success.

You must realize that EICAP has its roots firmly entrenched in the legacy of the "war on poverty" of the 1960's. Despite all of the bureaucratic changes, social trends, etc. it is the imagery of those stark times of the 1960's that are embedded in the psyche of those who guide America's "Community Action Partnership" movement of 2009-2010 and beyond.

EICAP technically began in 1968, right smack in the middle of the late 1960's cauldron. At first, EICAP was known as EISSA--an acronym you will still see here and there, especially on property tags. You can read all about EICAP's evolution from then until now. Some fine material was put together for the 40th anniversary in 2008. I won't attempt to recap all of the steps that have led to EICAP's current configuration. You can (and should) do that yourself. It's part of your due diligence in working for this agency.

With this blog post, I merely want to remind you of the tenor of the times when EICAP sprung into being. Even though we are generations away from those years, that legacy still constitutes a viable heritage for EICAP. It is still living with those years as a foundation for its future. Even though the face of poverty looks radically different today than it did in 1968, thousands of people young and old are still struggling to establish independence, self-sufficiency and a decent quality of life for themselves and their families.

In the fall of 2009, EICAP's Board decided to change its mission statement to include up front the words "at-risk" to show who this outfit targets. The mission of EICAP is worthy and noble.
There's no doubt about that. We will always celebrate any organization that steps onto the front lines in the struggle to eliminate poverty and assist needy people in a better standard of living.

However, just because EICAP has a noble lineage and a noble cause doesn't mean I blindly support the administration and day-to-day practices of EICAP. In fact, I see much amiss with the organization. What I see in many cases in none of my business...or yours. What really matters is EICAP's relationship with and to RSVP and you and your program. That's really all that matters from your viewpoint.

We will talk more about this lengthy topic in the blog posts that follow.