OUR MISSION IS TO REDUCE POVERTY AND PARTNER WITH OUR COMMUNITY TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY.

We envision communities where all people can achieve economic security and have opportunities to create their future story.

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: Decrease individuals and families living in poverty by 10%

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Goal Two: Eliminate hunger in Bucks County

Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.

Goal Three: Grow and Diversify funding sources to be 50% privately funded

Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).

Describe an investment in leadership

In 2021, our agency invested in two leadership tracks in partnership with our community college. We engaged in a 6 month leadership training program for Executive/Director level leaders as well as a cohort for supervisors and managers. This training helped leadership identify their leadership styles, areas of growth, and developed comradery. In addition to the leadership training, BCOC also invested in leadership to attend workshops, conferences, and trainings in their program areas to improve skills and learn industry best practices. Finally, we supported an up and coming leader to complete her graduate degree in nonprofit management.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

• Policy Advocacy

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

At BCOC we pride ourselves on being a community partner, fierce advocate, collaborator, and thought leader in the areas of poverty and economic mobility. We regularly participate in strategic partnerships to address community needs. Every 3 years, BCOC conducts a community needs assessment that includes surveys, focus groups, and research. Based on the results of the needs assessment, we update, create, or collaborate with others to address community needs. BCOC leadership is often asked to participate in national conferences, webinars, and panel discussions as experts on helping people leave poverty. BCOC is involved in coalitions to address hunger and homelessness. We have created collective impact solutions to these social determinants of health. Our board of directors is made up of three sectors, representing elected officials, private business, and people with lived experience in poverty. BCOC conducts regular trainings on poverty. We have a healthy social media presence.

2021 was a year of growth and adjustment for BCOC. The pandemic changed the way we delivered services and increased the number of people needing assistance to meet basic needs. The housing situation in Bucks County has been challenging for many years but the eviction moratorium and increased funding created new challenges. Vacancy rates were very low at 1% and the lack of available rental units drove up costs. We worked with the county to create a landlord incentive program. By offering incentives, developing a marketing strategy, and doing outreach to realtors, we were able to engage new landlords and move households into permanent homes. Unfortunately Bucks County experienced several natural disasters in 2021 including floods, tornadoes, and a hurricane. BCOC became an important partner in disaster recovery, working with emergency management and partners to address community needs. Staff were reassigned to help people with disaster relief needs including housing, transportation, food assistance, and other basic needs. We temporarily housed over 50 households for several months. Finally, in 2021 BCOC continued to use technology to connect with the community, clients, and supporters. Our Economic Self-Sufficiency graduation was to celebrate its 25th year, but had to be postponed due to a surge in COVID. We had done the event virtually in 2020, but did not want to miss the celebration of this important milestone. We did host our annual meeting virtually, where we showcased our agency outcomes and highlighted successes for the previous year. The event was done via Zoom and had over 120 participants including county commissioners, partners, board members, donors, volunteers and elected officials. Despite the changes and challenges of 2021, BCOC had a good year.