MACC Initiatives

Civic Engagement and Community Voice

The world needs a new model for civic engagement. For working poor people often holding down more than one job to just pay the rent, it is not easy to find time for involvement in a "cause" other than their own.  MACC's efforts are focused on helping people obtain training and jobs, finding homes and becoming self-sufficient. But not enough time is spent teaching those striving to join the middle class how to participate in a democracy at the grassroots level.

As pacesetters, MACC is helping to develop new ways for community centers and other nonprofit organizations to encourage their constituents to step up and speak out about the larger issues that affect their lives.

As part of our Civic Engagement initiative, MACC created the "Community Power Vote" Program in 2004 to assist members and constituents in voter education, registration, and turnout at the polls. It's a highly visible and easy to use kit. Through a national licensing agreement with the United Neighborhood Centers of America (UNCA), MACC sells Community Power Vote kits locally and nationwide.

The MACC Community Power Vote kit includes posters, buttons, stickers, tent cards and banners to reinforce the importance of voting to our communities. It also offers a voter guide, a Vote Your Values worksheet, reminder wallet cards, registration tracking cards and complete instructions. These materials are intended for nonpartisan voter registration, education and election day get-out-the-vote activities and are available without regard to the voter's political preference. This program is an example of how MACC engages communities to have a voice in shaping public policy on issues that matter to them most.