Mission

To empower all generations in the Northeast Kingdom to grow, prosper and thrive.

Vision Statement

Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) is a leading organization in the NEK addressing poverty through education, community collaborations, and community action. We believe in each individual’s potential for positive growth and change.

The Need

The Northeast Kingdom continues to have the deepest poverty in Vermont. Along with poverty, comes poor health outcomes. The Vermont Department of Health (VDH) ranks the fourteen counties in Vermont each year and two of the three counties in the Kingdom continuously score in last place. The VDH study correlates health outcomes to the level of poverty in a community. The take away from the study is the higher the income and education, the better the health outcomes.

Where We Are Headed

This will help them make enough income to prevent living in poverty. To forge aspirations in young children, parents and teachers. The community must participate continuously in encouraging and reinforcing the idea that children can become anything they want to be in life if they work for it. They need to chase a dream and once they have locked onto one, they need to have help to access the resources to achieve it.

It’s difficult to chase a dream and forge aspirations if you are constantly fighting for your basic needs to be met. If the parents are constantly in crisis mode their long-term aspirations are hard to focus on. We need to keep the basic programs going for those in financial and personal crisis but at the same time do everything we can to enlist our partners, parents, teachers, and community members to invest in our children and youth to work harder to strengthen our future.

The Northeast Kingdom holds the promise of a tomorrow where we are a learning and growing community in which a prosperous and healthy Kingdom thrives.

Get Involved

The generosity of private sector and public sector community leaders have helped provide us with funding to help Vermont’s most vulnerable families. It is wonderful to work in a community where so many leaders have compassion and understanding.

NEKCA is a member of the NEK Prosper Accountable Health Community.  NEK Prosper is committed to our shared goal to improve the health and well-being of the people of Caledonia and Southern Essex Counties, Vermont by integrating our efforts and services with an emphasis on reducing poverty in our region. Our community partners are the Vermont Foodbank, Northern Counties Health Care, Rural Edge, Northeast Kingdom Human Services, Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, Umbrella, Green Mountain United Way and Rural Community Transportation. Through a collective impact model, partners help choose and implement strategies, engage community members, and guide working groups.