The lexington community action council

The Lexington Community Action

CouncilJamahl McDaniel

Background Info

Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison and Nicholas Counties is a private, non-profit organization organized in 1965 to study the causes and effects of poverty in our communities and work toward solutions.

Organized by five local community activists in 1965. The Council was originally chartered only for Fayette County. In 1974, Nicholas County was added and later, Bourbon and Harrison joined the organization's service area to addresses both urban and rural needs in the counties that it serves. They currently have 3 locations in Lexington

I visited- 710 West High Street

Their role

Mission Statement: To Combat Poverty Their purpose is to help combat poverty by providing good, services

and opportunities for people from low social economic backgrounds. Whether an adult, child, or a veteran, the Council offers great resources for the community. They also host many programs and events within the Lexington community to gain support, bring awareness and to have a good time while doing it.

Part of their Vision Statement “As advocates, we listen, understand, and take our lead from the low-income population; we assist the low-income population in advocating for themselves; and we advocate for the low-income population at all levels of public policy including economic, legislative, government and business.”

Why I chose this organization

Not only have I volunteered at the Community Action Council before, I believe in its mission statement

Though I may not come from a low social economic status, I believe that all people need assistance and deserve opportunity.

Connection: My fraternity brother currently serves as director whom I have shadowed

Current New Media Outlets

They do currently utilize a website http://www.commaction.org/ where you can access information about the council, volunteer/job opportunities, make a donation (leads to separate website)

Beyond this they also have a Facebook Page which gives users their opportunity to like/support them, gain updates on activities within the council. They have a Twitter which provides instant information and they also utilize YouTube to visually advocate for their cause.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIwSVv-O9vIHRwB9p0n5NHQ

How are they using these?

They utilize their main website the most probably because it provides generally information on how to get involved within the council.

Their twitter page is great tool for them to reach many different age groups, especially with a nice amount of followers. It helps promote the activities of the council, gain feedback and reach a younger crowd whom get on twitter.

Their Facebook page also provides similar opportunities along with giving viewers the opportunity to visually see pictures of what they are doing

Strengths and Weakness

Strengths: There new media strategies are easily assessable and are all interconnected which gives people the option to be informed.

They have an entire link for publications include newsletters, news rooms and other efforts.

Weakness: The information may not always be updated. The last newletters was dated from 2012. Since they have so many locations, it can also be confusing on which locations are being discussed through social media.

Suggestions…

I believe that the Council does a great job at utilizing New New media outlets. However, I do think they can take advantage of other forms as well

Tumblr- Another creative way to share the message from the Council, it may be a blog, but it creates great follow-ship for the organization.

Describe the felt need or problem that is being addressed through the use of these new media tools. Why were these particular tools chosen by the organization? What methods/practices did these tools replace (i.e. how did the organization accomplish these tasks before employing the new media tools they are currently using)? It nearly provided more resources rather than take place completely considering they still utilize the Lexington Herald, brochures and other magazines for certain events, and opportunities. It gives consumers options, as well as helps the organization stay organized. Their new media efforts address the problems of finding out what the CAC is, and how to get involved. With a simple search anyone can find out about the multiple locations and opportunities.

How effective have these new media tools been in 1) fulfilling the mission of the organization and 2) addressing the need or problem(s) identified above (get feedback on this from your organization representative)? Pretty effective considering the amount of following they have on each page, the feedback they receive and the constant expansion of the organization.