Community Action Services and Food Bank is a nonprofit organization in Provo, Utah, that provides a two-step process to solving poverty: first, to provide the resources to help stabilize the person’s crisis, and then to help them rebuild their life. Since 1967, our agency has helped stabilize the crises in the lives of people in need by meeting their basic critical needs (such as food and housing) while providing them with the long-term solutions needed to rebuild their financial and social self-sufficiency, enabling them to break out of poverty.

• Emergency Assistance:

Community Action Services and Food Bank offers a guided online process for applying for assistance. New clients simply create an account, complete the application (including household information), and attach required documents. No printer required.

• Food Assistance

If you need emergency food assistance, please visit one of our food pantries. At the pantry, you will have the opportunity to meet with one of our trained counselors to assess your situation and review your budget. The counselor may also provide referrals to other programs and resources for which you may qualify.

• Financial Learning

The Financial Learning Center supports the Community Action Services mission of fostering self-reliance in individuals, families, and communities. We help people learn the financial skills they need to care for themselves and their families better.

We offer one-on-one coaching for the following:

• Budget
• Saving
• Credit
• Debt Management

• Home Buyer Education

Our group education sessions teach you about all the aspects of buying a home:

• Understanding the home-buying process
• Managing a budget and money
• Qualifying for a mortgage
• Shopping for a house
• Financing a home
• Avoiding predatory lending
• Applying for a loan
• Closing on a mortgage
• Understanding life as a homeowner
• Avoiding foreclosure

• Circles

Circles has two goals: (1) to help individuals and families get out of poverty and (2) to remove the barriers that keep people in poverty. Our success depends upon building strong connections to people and resources within our community. You can help by becoming a teammate, donating a meal, or volunteering with children.

• Gardens

Community Action Services and Food Bank rents small garden plots to families with limited yard space so that they can grow fresh produce alongside their neighbors and other community members. All members of the community are welcome to rent a plot at one of the four community gardens in Provo. Want to volunteer in one of our community gardens? Fill out the form linked below to apply.

• The Potluck

Community Action Services and Food Bank offers a commercial kitchen to help start your own business. Small business owners can pay a reduced fee to rent and use the kitchen until they can secure a location of their own. The kitchen has room for food preparation and cooking, but no seating areas. The goal is to help businesses grow and flourish without the extra expense of renting out a permanent space.

• Bridges out of Poverty

Right now, there is an ever-increasing desire to reach out in the community and help those who are suffering in poverty. We facilitate workshops for the community and individual organizations that teach how poverty works, its effects on a family, and how best to communicate with and overcome poverty’s harmful restrictions and habits.