Orange County’s Community Centers Making Significant Impact

Orange County's Community Centers Making Significant Impact

Across Orange County, nine Community Centers are doing far more than offering programs and services - they are helping thousands of residents build better lives. Operated by the County's Community Action Division, these centers embody a simple but powerful philosophy: when people are given the tools to help themselves, entire communities thrive.

Each year, nearly 300,000 residents walk through the doors of Orange County's Community Centers, which include East Orange, Hal P. Marston, Holden Heights, John H. Bridges, Maxey, Pine Hills, Taft, Tangelo Park and the new Multicultural Center. Inside these hubs, residents connect with resources that range from job fairs and health screenings to financial literacy classes and after-school programs.

"We think of ourselves as America's poverty-fighting network," explained Jonathan Kohn, manager of the Community Action Division. "Community Action was created in 1964, when lawmakers realized that poverty looks different in every community - and the solutions have to look different, too. Sixty years later, we're still experts in what poverty looks like here in Orange County and what it takes to fight it."

That fight takes many forms. In the past year alone, the centers distributed more than 87,000 food boxes, helped nearly 800 residents find employment, provided 1,500 students with school supplies and logged 13,000 volunteer hours. They also made 5,000 referrals to partner agencies and offered welcoming spaces for support groups, community meetings and family events.

"Our mantra is, 'Where Joy Lives, Hope Grows and Help Happens,'" said Roy Leath, Community Center manager. "We often meet citizens when they're facing a rough time and can't see a way forward. Our job is to meet them where they are and guide them through their situation."

The centers' computer labs are a lifeline for many residents seeking to improve their circumstances. From job searches and résumé building to online training and educational resources, these labs help bridge the digital divide and promote self-sufficiency.

Other programs include job fairs that connect residents with on-the-spot hiring opportunities, health fairs that emphasize preventive care and nutrition, and financial literacy workshops that teach first-time homebuyers how to plan for the future.

For many, the County's new Multicultural Center represents the next evolution of community action. "The Multicultural Center is a building, but its people are its heart," said Kohn. "There's no need we won't address and no problem we won't help solve. Every day, we're using innovative, results-oriented problem-solving to help those who need it most."

Beyond the numbers, the centers provide something more difficult to quantify - a sense of belonging and hope. "Sometimes what people need most is someone to listen," asserted Leath. "We may not always have every answer, but we always have a plan B, C or D to help give them relief."

With measurable outcomes and unmeasurable compassion, Orange County's Community Centers continue to prove that an investment in people is an investment that pays dividends for generations to come.

For more, go to Community Action Division.