Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency, Inc. (MVCAA) is a private, non-profit agency that provides a range of human services programs to low income families throughout Oneida and Herkimer Counties. MVCAA received its charter in 1966 and expanded its service area to include Herkimer County in 1987. MVCAA is governed by a tripartite board of directors composed of members from the public, neighborhood and private sectors. Advisory Boards comprised of customers, service providers and partners assist the Board in maintaining a pulse on the community.

MVCAA produces an annual Community Needs Assessment to evaluate the needs in the community and conducts regular self-assessments to insure relevancy and professionalism in all aspects of service delivery. The agency serves approximately 10,000 families and individuals annually across the two-county region. Services are provided through three divisions: Child Development; Family Resources; Housing. The Child Development Division operates Early Head Start and Head Start Programs in 21 locations and serves over 900 children and their families.

The Family Resource Division administers emergency assistance, family development, youth services, tax preparation and a Foster Grandparent Program.

The Housing Division oversees the Rural Preservation, Weatherization Assistance, Empower NY, HUD Section 8 Rental Assistance Programs and HOME Rehabilitation Program.

The Agency offers training and support in life skills and on the job training for youth, and is a catalyst in the community for policies and services to help low-income families.

Utica Neighborhood Housing Services (HomeOwnershipCenter; HOC) incorporated in 1979 to target Utica’s declining, older neighborhood, Cornhill, with the mission of Revitalization and Growth of Neighborhoods. With headquarters still situated in the heart of the city, HomeOwnershipCenter has provided services to Utica residents since its inception.  Throughout the years, services diversified as HomeOwnershipCenter matured and expanded to 6 counties, including Oneida, Herkimer & Madison.  HomeOwnershipCenter is a chartered NeighborWorks® Organization through NeighborWorks® America and a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution).

HomeOwnershipCenter is a Full-Cycle Lender offering homebuyer education classes, financial coaching, foreclosure prevention, reverse mortgage education, down payment/closing cost loans, home improvement loans, property evaluations, rehabilitation construction, empowerment education as well as community development and community coordination through Block Associations.

 

GroWest is a neighborhood-based community development agency that has been a member of the NPC network since January of 2000. The agency was founded in 1997 and has as its mission the promotion of home ownership, business opportunities, economic development, and neighborhood pride in the West Utica area of the City of Utica. The agency is truly rooted in the community of West Utica and has had strong involvement from the area's business community, residents of all incomes and backgrounds, and the governmental and educational organizations and agencies that serve or are located in West Utica. GroWest has, since its inception, provided a variety of services to support home ownership in the West Utica community by low and moderate-income persons who might otherwise not have been able to own or maintain a home in the community. Services include counseling and education services for owners and potential owners, underwriting and other services to local lending institutions that participate in a revolving loan fund to assist first time homeowners in this community, funding and counseling in essential home repairs for owner occupants in the community, and a variety of neighborhood organizing activities in partnership and cooperation with other community-based agencies in Utica. GroWest operates 11 different grant programs for property rehab and business assistance.

As a member of the NPC network, GroWest has been examining ways to increase their services in the community as well as improving the effectiveness of their existing community development activities. NPC funding allows the agency to maintain the staff and equipment necessary to continue to develop in both services and effectiveness. Growest has initiated a training program, the Utica Culinary Training Center, to provide our citizens with the job skills to obtain employment in the hospitality industry.