UACC Advocacy

The Advocacy Action Team plays a key role in the UACC – to assure that policy makers and service providers understand and meet the needs of greater Cincinnati’s Urban Appalachian community.

Under the leadership of Michael Maloney ([email protected]) the Advocacy Action Team works for inclusion of the urban Appalachian community in decisions that affect us. When the mayor appointed a Child Poverty Steering Committee with no Appalachian representation, our Advocacy Action Team organized a city-wide Appalachian Child Poverty Forum, resulting in the inclusion of Appalachian data and strategies in the Child Poverty Collaborative’s final report. UACC is partnering with Interact for Health, the Cincinnati Health Department, and the Center for Closing the Health Gap to maintain a database on the health of the Appalachian Community. Without these and other advocacy efforts, low-income urban Appalachian families would remain invisible and thus underserved.

UACC Stewards operate as urban Appalachian advocates in many organizations throughout the greater Cincinnati area and beyond including The AMOS Project, The Appalachian Studies Association, The Child Poverty Collaborative Steering Committee, Cincinnati Community Coalition, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Community Matters, Education Matters, Food Not Bombs, The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Lower Price Hill Women’s Group, Oyler School, Price Hill Will, The Rookwood Civic Collaboration, Santa Maria Community Services, The Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative, The Woman’s City Club and more.