CAP Services, Inc.
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Mission Statement
CAP Services vision is for individuals and families to have the capacity to achieve their goals & thrive in resilient and equitable communities. To achieve that vision, its mission is to transform people and communities to advance social and economic justice. Our core values include long-term change, community, respect, fairness, education, affordability, safety, & partnership. CAP's primary service area includes several counties in Central and East Central Wisconsin, with certain programs with a state-wide footprint. In 2016, over 2,200 households accessed services that helped them become more independent. CAP's focus areas include: jobs & economic security; housing & transportation; business coaching/lending; child & family development; health, wellness & safety; community & real estate development; and, advocacy and community engagement. CAP has a triparte Board with reps from the low-income community, local government and the community at large, to ensure low-income voice & formal public partnership.
About This Cause
There's information below on CAP Services. But you might start by listening to how our work has impacted lives at this link: https://youtu.be/o9u2ZL31Ji4 CAP Services was created in May of 1966 as part of President Johnson's War on Poverty, with a mission to bring about a permanent increase in the ability of low-income persons to achieve economic and emotional self-sufficiency." That mission was updated recently to reflect not only CAP's direct work with individuals, but also its focus on community development. Over time some programs were created to meet community gaps. One of those was the creation of a domestic violence shelter - the Family Crisis Center - in 1978. As domestic violence effects people of all socio-economic groups, CAP also felt it important to recognize, that while our focus is lifting low-income families to fully engage in our communities, things like domestic abuse, sexual assault, mental health, AODA and academic achievement gaps effect those across class. As described, CAP's nearly two dozen programs and services are grouped in 7 key focus areas. What follows is a summary of some of our 2016 program service outcomes in each of these areas: *Job skills and economic security: Services include workforce development programs like CAP’s Skills Enhancement Program, now recognizing its 25th year. It provides financial and coaching support to low-income people so they can access training to compete for better-paying jobs. In 2016, 47 program graduates averaged annual increases in earnings of nearly $12,589 and nearly 70% gained access to employer-sponsored health insurance benefits. Other services in this area include CAP’s free tax assistance program that served 641 households with total returns of nearly $1 million, Fresh Start and more. *Business coaching and lending: Entrepreneurs, particularly low-income ones, find many challenges in starting up a business. CAP Services offers a variety of business assistance services to help address these. It also, through its lending division, offers financing when many conventional lenders might not. In 2016, CAP made 31 business loans, valued at $1.4 million, in conjunction with more than 2,450 hours of technical assistance services. The result was 10 new businesses and 39 new jobs in our communities. *Community and Real Estate Development: CAP Services often competes for resources to help our communities too. Whether helping the City of Wautoma secure funding for a new fire station, or providing gap financing to an assisted living facility in Iola, creating thriving communities is our goal. CAP has developed over 750 affordable housing rentals and has projects in Wausau, Waupaca, Iola, Manawa and Wisconsin Rapids to name a few. Some are targeted for seniors so they can remain in the communities in which they raised their children. Others are for families so they can stretch their income farther. CAP’s partnership with the City of Waupaca resulted in the development Eco Park, an educational environmental park in the City. *Housing and transportation: For families wishing to own instead of rent, CAP’s Homebuyer and Rehab Programs provided low-cost financing to 30 low- to moderate-income households realize the American dream of ownership, and 31 more got loans to improve their homes. Match that with low-cost financing for 29 families for a car purchase who needed more reliable transportation to get to work, and you will find our approaches are comprehensive. *Child and family development: CAP understands the importance of strong family units and targets its resources so parents can care for their families and serve as their children’s first and most important teaches. Programs like Head Start, Early Head Start (410 service slots), our Family Resource Center in Wautoma or our Hmong UPLIFT Program, all are designed to support families in meeting their goals to be independent. *Health, wellness and safety: We understand the link between health and independence. CAP is a partner in Ministry Dental Center, increasing access to low-income families in Portage and Waupaca Counties through over 10,600 patient encounters in 2016. CAP’s Crisis Center provided shelter to 138 persons. 293 persons accessed our sexual assault services. We also provided mental health navigation services in our holistic approach to building social and economic well-being of those we serve. Many of CAP's most successful programs grew out of input it received in its triennial needs survey of low-income households. No one knows better how to meet low-income needs than low-income persons. CAP just completed its most recent needs survey in 2016 and the top 5 priorities identified for 2017-2019 include access for affordable housing, access to dental care, full-time year-round jobs, jobs that include health insurance benefits and simply more money to pay bills. A new initiative at CAP is its financial capability program. We not only want people to understand finances but to build the skills required to earn, keep and grow what they have. We expect to soon pilot a debt reduction/grow savings initiative to incent timely reduction of debt. Given many of our clients work and may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit Program, their tax refunds bring an opportunity to save. Since its inception, other programs and services have also been offered. Some transitioned to other non-profit organizations or some sunsetted due to demand or changing environments and needs. The common theme though over CAP's 50 years has been to help people increase their income (job training & better jobs, free tax assistance); reduce expenses so they can stretch their funds more (affordable housing, low-income weatherization services that can save $500 or more annually on energy costs); and asset creation (home ownership, entrepreneurship for people, environmental education park, dental clinic, affordable rentals, domestic violence shelter - for communities. Another way to look at this is to think about all one might have in their favor when they wake up in the morning -- a safe and decent place to live, a good job with benefits so medical and dental needs are accessible, reliable transportation for jobs, recreation, worship and more, the ability to access training and education and compete and access to capital and credit so low- to moderate-income persons have an opportunity to create businesses, buy or rehabilitate homes and more. But the foundation for families for all these things also requires opportunities for parents to be the most important teachers of their children and lead in ensuring their children have all their needs met in communities that support everyone.