About Us | CouncilSouthernMtn

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Welch Office: (304) 436-6800

Bluefield Office: (304) 327-5305

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CSM
About Us
The Council of the Southern Mountains strives to provide quality services and opportunities to help people overcome the causes and effects of poverty and achieve the dignity of self-sufficiency.
McDowell Statistical Data
McDowell County is located in the coalfields of southern West Virginia and has faced economic challenges due to the decline of coal mining.
Emergency Assistance
ERRP
The Emergency Repair and Replacement Program provides assistance to households at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty income guideline in need of emergency heat.
Utility Assistance
The Utility Assistance Program provides assistance with electricity, water, wood, gas, and coal to low-income families.
Emergency Food Pantry
Assists low-income families with nutritional food items. Consumers may receive items from the Food Pantry every three months to help them during stressful times.
FEMA Food & Shelter
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) is a federally-funded program administrated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Assistance Programs
Community Services Block Grant
Provides funds to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities throughout the United States.
Title XIX Waiver Program
This program is a health care coverage program that reimburses for services to instruct, train, and support individuals who are Intellectually Developmentally Disabled or I/DD.
Right From the Start
Helping mothers and their babies lead healthier lives through home visitation services with a Designated Care Coordinator.
Family Daycare Feeding Program
This program ensures that children between the ages of birth to thirteen eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet, while in the care of an in-home Childcare provider.
Services to Community
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
VITA is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved program to help low to moderate-income taxpayers complete their annual tax returns at no cost.
McDowell County Federal Credit Union
The Credit Union is a fully insured program open to any County resident and provides an ideal way to save for vacations, holidays, or simply to create a nest egg for a rainy day.
Youth Exposure Series
This program enables children ages 6-17 from eligible families to participate in various activities during the summer months.
Wholesale Buyer's Club
The Wholesale Buyer's Club helps families save their money, without any income guidelines! This club focuses on buying in bulk and helps consumers to save on everything from meat to paper towels.
CSM Fitness Center
Visit our state-of-the-art facility. The Center is certified through the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) and the Humana Silver Sneakers program.
Senior Volunteer Programs
Retired Senior Volunteer Programs
The Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP) is a program developed primarily to support volunteers 55 and older for various community endeavors.
Foster Grandparents
The Foster Grandparent Program is a volunteer program that offers seniors age 60 and older a paid non-taxable stipend to serve as mentors, tutors, and caregivers for children and youth with special needs.
Senior Companion Program
The Council of the Southern Mountains operates the largest Senior Companion Station in West Virginia, providing volunteers (ages 55 and over) who make a difference by providing assistance and friendship to adults in need.

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COUNCIL OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS

ABOUT US

The Council of the Southern Mountains is a community action agency established in 1964 to help low-income individuals and families achieve economic, social, and psychological self-sufficiency in southern West Virginia, especially McDowell County.

501(c)3 Nonprofit Corporation

The Council is a 501 c (3) nonprofit corporation governed by a volunteer tripartite Board of Directors and is composed of individuals from three areas:

Low-income and minority,
Elected officials and
Community representatives.

The agency serves people in the southern part of West Virginia with emphasis on McDowell County, an economically distressed area experiencing high unemployment and social disparities.

Services to Achieve Self-Sufficiency

The Council of the Southern Mountains presently provides services for individuals and families to help them achieve self-sufficiency through programs for unemployed and underemployed individuals, high school drop-outs, unwed parents, parolees, and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients.

CSM provides job training and other services for these individuals and strives to keep the agency functioning at a level that will provide meaningful interventions for high-need individuals gaining meaningful community services that provide all measures of citizenship and dignity.

Services

SERVICES OVERVIEW

The agency specifically served 3,000 families in the Community Services Block Grant program this past year which provides food pantries, transportation, seasonal food allocations, clothing, infant formula for eligible families, assistance to the elderly, energy assistance, and housing referrals.

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