The Warren-Forest Counties Economic Opportunity Council helps all members of our community to become self-sufficient. The EOC is a Community Action Agency and is part of a 43-agency network covering the 67 counties in Pennsylvania and more than 1,000 Community Action Agencies nationwide.

The EOC today is the result of work begun in 1966 in response to the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and President Lyndon Johnson's national War on Poverty. The objective of the agency then, and now, is to help people help themselves. To this end, the EOC contracts with federal, state and local governments to administer nearly 30 programs that operate primarily in collaboration with other social service providers, as well as private and public partners throughout this two-county area.

Our Energy, Housing and Emergency-Service programs help consumers overcome rising utility costs, which allows them to retain disposable income. The child development programs, Head Start and Child Care Information Services, assist families with their basic needs while maintaining family integrity. Our Employment and Job Training/Retention programs help build the labor force with reliable workers. The Weatherization and Housing Rehabilitation programs help preserve neighborhoods and communities.

EOC continues to expand, while contantly looking for new and innovative programs and services to help our community. Among these are the following recent achievements:

• Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) status
• Grow a New Enterprise (GANE) program, which suppports new and would-be small business entrepreneurs
• EOC Head Start Head Start Needs Assessment
• Expansion of the EOC Family Savings Account program
• New accessibility improvements to EOC's offices at 1209 Pennsylvania Avenue
• Warren Anthems apartments (supportive housing for persons with serious mental illness)
• Warren Regional Main Street program
• Transitional housing for Domestic Violence survivors and their families (to open in 2008)