Community action began over 40 years ago in the United States as part of the War on Poverty. More than 1,100 local community action agencies (CAA) across the country now receive broad bipartisan support. In 1964, People, Inc. in Abingdon was started, becoming Virginia's first CAA and the first agency east of the Mississippi River. Virginia now has 27 CAAs.

These agencies receive their core funding from the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and General Assembly appropriated CSBG funds. The Virginia Department of Social Services' Office of Community Services provides oversight for the Virginia Community Action Partnership network.

Community action's mission is to address the issues of poverty and to increase the self-sufficiency of low-income families. They offer a broad range of anti-poverty programs and work collaboratively with businesses and other agencies to build a network of support for Virginia's most vulnerable populations. Some of the CSBG programs are:

• Education
• Employment
• Child care
• Community and economic development
• Employment
• Head Start
• Health and nutrition
• Housing and related services
• Special populations (including the elderly, ex-offenders and the homeless)
• Transportation

In addition to the local CAAs, Virginia has three statewide community action organizations. These organizations address specific problems by working through the local CAAs, local governments or other community organizations. Those statewide programs are:

• Project Discovery, Inc. - dropout prevention and first-time college options
• Southeast Rural Community Assistance Program - water / wastewater
• Virginia Community Action Re-entry System (VaCARES) - ex-offender transition and support