The mission of Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) is "to empower and partner with individuals and communities to alleviate the hardships of poverty, provide opportunities to thrive, and eliminate root causes of poverty in southeastern Vermont." SEVCA works to find solutions to the deep-seated problems of poverty, largely by empowering and collaborating with those whose lives are affected by it daily. We address people's immediate needs for fuel, housing, food, and other essentials to help stabilize their lives in the short term, and provide further tools and support to help them achieve greater financial independence in the longer term. SEVCA was created in 1965 as a part of the nationwide 'War on Poverty' and chartered as a Community Action Agency (CAA)—a private non-profit corporation, locally initiated and governed, and designated by local, state, and federal officials as the 'anti-poverty agency' serving Windham and Windsor Counties.