Serving the 560+ square miles of the county, the Blount County Community Action Agency (BCCAA) is a private, nonprofit, established in 1965, to provide resources and services that alleviate or eliminate poverty cycles and foster increased abilities of self-reliance for those who find themselves in temporary or longer-term situations of need.

Over the past 56 years, BCCAA has provided not only direct services for housing, food, health, education and advocacy needs but also, has fostered the ability to promote local control on identified solutions allowing the community to assess their own needs and solutions, avoid duplication of services, and engage local collaborations, stakeholders and volunteerism for the betterment of the community.

Blount County Community Action Agency operates three departments that house numerous programs and services.

See PROGRAM for more information
 

 

COMMUNITY SERVICES PROGRAMS

Community Services Block Grant

Low-Income Heat and Energy Program (LIHEAP)

Share The Warmth

Commodities Distribution

 

 

 

 

COMMUNITY NUTRITION PROGRAMS

Smoky Mountains Meals on Wheels

Ani-Meals on Wheels

Congregate Meals

Rural Area Meal Program (RAMP

Food Pantry Resources

Child/Youth Outreach

Community Outreach Programs

 

OFFICE ON AGING

SMiles Program (Transportation)

Savings CheckUp (Benefits Enrollment)

SAILS (Senior Exercise)

CHIRP (Telephone Check-ins)

SAFER Homes, Ramp Services

Senior Outreach Programs

Elder Abuse Prevention & Education, Community & Caregiver Advocacy

What is Community Action?

What is Community Action?

Established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty focused efforts to  “…not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it”. Thus, Community Action Agencies (CAA) were created and charged to equip low-income citizens with the tools and potential for increasing self-sufficiency and economic stability.

CAAs address causes of poverty, not the symptoms, which means that:

• CAAs work to ensure their community offers everyone opportunities to become economically secure, and
• They invest in individuals and their families who are striving to develop their skills.

Local Control

The nation’s 1,000-plus Community Action Agencies are a robust, state and local force – reaching children and families in 99% of America’s counties with life-changing services that create pathways to self-reliance. There are 20 Community Action Agencies across the State of Tennessee.

The vast majority of Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are private non-profits, but some are agencies of local or county government. Both types of CAAs are locally-based organizations with a longstanding community presence, a community-selected governing board and transparent management systems.

CSBG requires local and state plans to address community improvements by:

• Supporting greater civic participation
• Developing “grassroots” public-private partnerships
• Funding innovative community-based initiatives
• Establishing better linkages among government programs

Place Based Solutions

Every three (3) years, each CAA must complete a Comprehensive Community Needs Assessment identifying local needs and a plan to address the identified issues and gaps, collaborative programming and supplemental services with Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funding. Under the community action agency structure, the ability to promote local control on identified solutions allows communities to assess their own needs, avoid duplication of services and prescribe place-based solutions.

2024: Blount County Results

  1. Housing Services
  2. Elderly Services
  3. Child Care Services
  4. Transportation Services
  5. Nutrition Services

 

Local control allows communities to assess their own needs and prescribe place-based solutions. Local plans for using CSBG funds must reflect a well-conceived strategy for ameliorating poverty; that strategy must include approaches and activities chosen from those listed in the CSBG Act which the local agency leaders deem to be necessary and effective for their community:

 

Information provided by the National Community Action Foundation.

Board of Directors

CAA’s are mandated to be governed under a tripartite Board of Directors membership identified by their representation of three sectors of the community.

These sectors include the public, private and the low-income representation.

      • The public representative sector consists of elected community officials, who represent the leadership that the citizens of the community have selected to serve in various government roles. This membership sector does not create political affiliations or bias for BCCAA, yet reflects who the community has deemed as their voice to address and solve many impactful community service needs.
      • The private representative sector membership consists of individuals in various business, industry, labor, religious, welfare, education or other major groups and interests in the community.
      • The low-income representative sector consists of various members of the community who are either members of the community who have received BCCAA services or represent agencies that also service low-income populations.

Public Representative Sector
Tom Stinnett- Chair
Bill Brewer
Fred Metz – Vice Chair
Tanya Martin

Jeff Jopling

Low-Income Representative Sector
Jerry Hall
Jeff Barbra
Peggy Campbell
Rosa Tellis
Marjorie Stewart

Private Representative Sector
Debbie Sudhoff- Secretary
Rob Britt
Bob Ramsey
Tom Taylor
Bryan Sandmeier

Staff

Executive Director
Tammye Pirie, MPH   tpirie@blountcaa.org

Chief Financial Officer/Deputy Director
Paige King   pking@blountcaa.org

Community Services Program Director
Mitzi Long   mlong@blountcaa.org

Community Services Staff:
Linda Kirkland
Kristi Cochran
Amanda Cooper
Tisha Byrd

Community Nutrition Program Staff:
Sheila Sutton

Nancy Reneau

Audrey Pettis

Renee Jennings

Charlotte Douglas

Nancy Reneau

Scott Holloway

Office on Aging Director
Teresa O’Mary   tomary@blountcaa.org

SMiles Manager
Mary Mixon   mmixon@blountcaa.org 

SMiles Specialist   Lindsay Reneau  lreneau@blountcaa.org

SAFER Homes, HomeSharing Programs

Joani Shaver  jshaver@blountcaa.org 

SAFER Homes, Ramp Program 

Phil Newman   pnewman@blountcaa.org

Maddie Taylor   mtaylor@blountcaa.org

Benefits Enrollment Center Manager
Becky Waugh   bwaugh@blountcaa.org

 


Contact Us

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Location & Hours

Blount County Community Action Agency
3509 Tuckaleechee Pike
Maryville, TN 37803
Map & Directions

Hours of Operation

Monday-Thursday: 8-4:30
Friday: 8-1:30


(865) 983-8411 P
(865) 681-1781 F