My View | By Jack Clarke

This article was originally published in the June 11th, 2025 edition of the Gloucester Daily Times and re-shared with permission from its author.

Last spring, my wife and I were at an event outside City Hall when we approached a table for Action Inc. I had seen their interminable building renovation project down on Main Street but wasn’t sure what they did, outside of running the seaport’s emergency shelter.

I talked to the woman behind the table, Action Inc.’s amazing Advancement Director Kristin Macek, and she told me the idea for Action actually started in 1964 when President Lyndon Jonnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act enabling such service organizations.

Wasting no time, the next year a group of Gloucester residents established Gloucester’s Action Inc.

Within four years, Action Inc. helped start the Gloucester Fishermen Wives Association, soon followed by Pathways for Children, The Open Door, Meals on Wheels, and SeniorCare.

It operated the first public buses on Cape Ann (now CATA) and brought the first homecare agency to the North Shore. Gloucester was fully investing in the idea of Action Inc.

Today there are a thousand such Action non-profits around America, and 23 in the Bay State.

And Gloucester’s Action is still doing what was intended in LBJ’s “war on poverty” campaign — helping America’s friends, families and neighbors who may have temporarily fallen through the cracks get back on their feet.

Action is a good example of partnership with government. Government doesn’t necessarily have to do the job needed, but it can empower the private sector to do so, thereby cutting red tape and directly solving problems absent the bureaucracy.

As an example, federal funds such as Community Services, and Community Development Block Grants are passed on to states and then granted to local organizations such as Action Inc. which know the people, the neighborhoods and the local culture.

Last year, Action Inc. helped 7,443 of our neighbors throughout Essex County achieve some stability in their lives. Here are just a few of their stories. (Actual names have been changed.).

Charles had been homeless longer than he could remember. Over the past 10 years, he had spent time staying with family, living on the street, staying in abandoned trailers and homeless shelters, and receiving treatment at detox programs and mental health facilities. Last year, Charles was accepted into Action Inc.’s Housing First program. “I had my team around me, my case manager and my psychiatrist,” he said. Today, Charles is the manager of two gas stations and has been living in an apartment in Gloucester. He shares that his mother recently visited him. “She told me she was proud of me,” he said with tears in his eyes.

When Christine came to Action Inc., she was homeless and at risk of losing custody of her 3-year-old son. Action Inc. helped Christine turn her life around. Since moving into stable housing, Christine has earned her bachelor’s degree and launched her career. Sounds to me like a good investment in America and the community.

Jane first came to Action Inc., as a homeless individual struggling with substance use disorder. Action Inc. worked with Jane to help her find housing and access substance-use rehabilitation services. Jane then enrolled in Action Inc.’s Adult Education program, decades after dropping out of high school. After much hard work, Jane earned her GED.

Bill is a single father who was working as a fish packer, when he found himself out of work for five weeks. He was earning just $13 per hour at the time, so losing a few weeks of work was enough to cause him to fall significantly behind on his monthly bills. Action Inc. helped Bill with budgeting and found him rental assistance funds for a few months so he could regain some financial stability.

Over the last 60 years, Gloucester’s Action Inc. has proven to be an integral, necessary and sacred part of the community. Gloucester would not be Gloucester without it.

These programs are all supported with federal funds. Today, President Donals Trump is ruthlessly and mercilessly cutting, slashing, and eliminating these vital community investments.

In her June 2, 2025, Gloucester Daily Times letter to the editor, Action Inc. CEO Peggy Hegarty-Steck said it best when she wrote: “No one should have to choose between food, medicine, or heat, (and) everyone deserves a safe place to call home.”

Your action now is what Action Inc. needs. Contact U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with U.S. Rep Seth Moulton (https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member) and tell them to save these crucial and important American programs necessary to keep all in our community healthy, strong, safe, and resilient.

You can also make a badly needed donation at actioninc.org.

Gloucester resident Jack Clarke is a frequent contributor to the Gloucester Daily Times.