Every year in May, Community Action Agencies across the country celeberate National Community Action Month (NCAM) by highlighting Community Action's success as they help people and change lives. The commemoration began in 1997 as "National Community Action Week" and became "National Community Action Month" a year later.

There are CAA success stories in progress almosy daily, but NCAM is the time when agencies step back and take stock of their progress opening doors and leading the way for 13 million low-income Americans. They honor program participants who've become self-sufficient, volunteers who've made hope a reality, and staff who are making their communities a better place to live. CAAs hold a cornucopia of events throughout the month,including open houses, town hall meetings, award ceremonies, and job fairs.

This year's NCAM theme is unity- unity in our local communities, with our partner organizations, and with our fellow CAAs. There are 110 million Americans living in or near poverty and we all need to work together to advocate on their behalf. In addition to celebrating success stories, we will use NCAM to emphasize our partnerships and make new ones. Our events will bring people together from all sections of the community and encourage them to be a part of our national effort to unite Americans around the common cause of ending poverty.