Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee, Inc., was established as a private nonprofit corporation in 1965 in response to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It was formed by three Calvert County residents who were concerned about the poverty that many area residents lived in at that time.  

Eighteen concerned citizens - six from each of the three counties were seated on the agency’s first Board of Directors. The Boards of County Commissioners for Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s County designated SMTCCAC as the official recipient of Economic Opportunity funds in 1965 after an application for a federal grant was submitted on behalf of the agency by the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland.

The agency’s first employees were hired to fill three administrative and two community organizer positions in 1966 when $94,115 in funding was approved - $84,700 in federal funds and $9,415 as a local match.  Another nine outreach employees reported to work on October 10, 1966 when two distinct programs emerged - Community Organization and Neighborhood Youth Corps. 

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In 1967, with additional funding, two new programs and a demonstration project were developed.  The new programs were Head Start and Emergency Food and Medical Services. In an attempt to concentrate available services and examine their impact the Family Movement Independence Demonstration Projects were formed. 

The formation of H.O.U.S.E., Inc. provided a process for grass-root organizing and control of housing development for community action services’ consumers. The concept was soon expanded to St. Mary’s and Calvert Counties in 1969 with the formation of SaTaV, Inc., and P.R.O.U.D., Inc. in 1971.  All three corporations were successful in producing housing developments for citizens struggling to improve their living conditions. The agency’s Housing Services Program was also established during that year. 

In 1971 Neighborhood Youth Corps expanded with the Job Development and Placement Program; the Minority Business Assistance Program was created in 1972. The agency was instrumental in creating the St. Mary’s Federal Credit Union during this period.

By 1981 there were 12 programs operating under the agency’s umbrella.  An in-house survey of clients estimated that the agency affected the lives of 10,505 persons in those programs at that time.

Another milestone was reached in 1990 when the volunteer core reached more than 1,000 and staff exceeded 100 - allowing the agency to improve the lives of 27,137 people in that year alone.  During this period we also became a HUD Approved Counseling Agency.

By 1995 Head Start was operating 11 centers in the tri-county area and serving 525 pre-school children and their families.  The Emergency Food Assistance Program was assisting 4,147 persons each month.  The Senior Companion Program provided 62,640 hours of service.  Medical Transportation staff provided clients 6,287 trips to appointments in the Washington/Baltimore area and locally.

The agency celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2000 with an operating budget of over 8.5 million; administering 13 programs, all aimed at alleviating the causes and conditions of poverty, promoting upward mobility and enriching the quality of life for eligible tri-county citizens. 

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In 2002 the agency was responsible for generating $5,930,653 in income that went into the local economy by way of the Agency’s cost cutting and job producing programs. Additionally, $4,069,130 was added to the local real estate tax base when 55 housing units were built during that year at Brawners Estates in Charles County and Yardley Hills in Calvert County.

SMTCCAC has been approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission as a Career Training School since 2002,  providing adults with training, offered evenings leading to a Class B Commercial Driver's License and a marketable job skill.

In 2008 our Energy Assistance Program was responsible for certifying 5,115 applications for assistance and infusing $5,088,616 in benefits into the local economy as direct payments on behalf of our clients to utilities and bulk fuel vendors. That year 184,586 pounds of food was received, warehoused and distributed by the Emergency Food Assistance Program to 23 volunteer food pantries.

Today

SMTCCAC is in its 46th year of offering services that promote self-sufficiency. The agency has achieved much with the support of federal, state and local governments, as well as numerous other partners.  We are now one of 17 Community Action Agencies in Maryland.    

Our staff of 165, and numerous contractors are still working hard to address the needs of working families and individuals of all ages in the spirit of “People Helping People” to carryout the Promise of Community Action.

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