Seven counties in Eastern Kentucky are included on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau list of the fifty poorest counties in the nation.
Three of those counties are locations of CAP human services programs; all have organizations that receive goods from Operation Sharing.
Owsley County, which has CAP outreach, elderly services, housing and job training programs, currently ranks as the seventh poorest county in the country, but in 1997 ranked as number five.
In 1997, nearly 65 percent of the children in Owsley County were considered poor. Currently, the estimate of poor children in the county is just over 50 percent.
In some areas of Appalachia, as many as 16.8 percent of the homes are classified as substandard.That is, it has more people than rooms and is without indoor plumbing.
Rates of poverty among children under the age of 18 in Appalachian Kentucky range from 17 percent in some counties to as high as 52 percent in others.
·Almost 59 percent of the children living in CAP's direct service area are eligible to receive free or reduced-priced lunches.
oIn one area that CAP serves, over 90 percent of the children are eligible.
Welfare To Work
·Almost two-thirds of the Kentuckians who left the welfare roles in 1999 are working at jobs that pay less than $8 an hour.
·Thirteen percent of those Kentuckians work on the night shift.
·Twenty-three percent work varied shifts, which makes child care arrangements a significant challenge.
·The child poverty rate in Kentucky in 1997 was 23 percent, an improvement from the 1989 figure of 25 percent.
CAP FACTS
CAP operates nearly 70 programs, including spouse abuse centers, child development centers, home repair, summer camps, counseling services, respite care, youth and teen centers, emergency assistance, adult education (including literacy training and GED study), education for parents of children with disabilities, community education advocacy, services to elderly people, a gardening program, and a Christmas basket program. Over 35,000 individuals and families are directly served by these services each year.
CAP employs about 250 people full-time and utilize between 80 and 100 long-term volunteers and more than 900 short-term. Over 300 College students annually attend CAP's alternative spring break program, know as WorkFest.
CAP's one-year volunteer program is vital to the success of the services we provide.Volunteers serving for a year range in age from 21 to well past retirement age. CAP also has short-term volunteer opportunities for people age 18 and up, including summer camp.
In 1986, CAP began a program called “Operation Sharing” which acquires and distributes goods such as toys, games, books, health products, garden supplies, food commodities, new and used clothing, and home repair materials. These goods are distributed to needy people, churches, libraries, literacy programs, and social service agencies in all thirteen Appalachian states. Each year over 1.5 million people benefit from goods distributed by Operation Sharing to local community resources.
CAP headquarters are in Hagerhill, Kentucky, with satellite offices in Garrard and Lawrence counties.
CAP raises funds for its work through direct mail appeal, planned giving, in-kind gifts, and corporate and foundation donations. Our budget in Fiscal Year 2003, exceeds $81 million.
