Community Action Day educates Starkville on self-sufficiency
Prairie Opportunity Community Action Agency held a Community Action Day on Friday to educate Starkville residents on self-sufficiency programs provided in the area.
Dozens of people visited the Starkville Sportsplex and Mckee Park on Friday and were greeted by businesses and organizations from the area that had booths to highlight programs they offer that promote self-sufficiency.
“Our goal with this Community Action Day is to have the community be aware of the different services that are available to them and what those services are providing them to become more self-sufficient,” said Laura Marshall, Prairie Opportunity executive director. “May is recognized as National Community Action Month, but we at Prairie Opportunity make the last Friday in May as our grand activity with this Community Action Day for the citizens of the Golden Triangle to come out, fellowship, and learn more about the many services that are provided in our community.”
Along with the tents and vendors set up for Community Action Day on Friday, there was also a ticket raffle where Prairie Opportunity gave away door prizes that have either been purchased or donated by different vendors, businesses, and companies throughout the Golden Triangle area.
Prairie Opportunity is a non-profit community action agency that serves clients all over the Golden Triangle with the mission to provide comprehensive case management service to low-income families, elderly, and disabled populations to enhance stability and enable them to become self-sufficient through the building of a community relationship.
“We have different programs that we provide such as the community service block grant, which provides a range of services and activities that remove barriers that prevent them from becoming self-sufficient, and those services could be education, employment, housing, income management, budgeting, childcare, and transportation,” said Marshall. “We also have our Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and we provide services for home energy related costs such as the electric bill, gas bill, and propane bill.”
Prairie Opportunity serves the following eight counties: Choctaw, Clay, Leake, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Noxubee, Webster, and Winston.