Western Carolina Community Action, Inc.

In 1964, WCCA began offering early childhood education programs to economically disadvantaged families in Henderson County. Today, with 17 early learning centers and partnerships with local childcare providers, WCCA serves over 800 children annually throughout a four county region.

WCCA's Children's Services programs include Early Head Start (under age 3), Head Start (3-5 yrs.), NC Pre-K (4-5yrs.), and wrap-around (after hours) care for working families. Each of these programs nurtures and tracks development across 6 domains - Social/Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Mathematics in order to prepare children for transition into Kindergarten and long-term success in school.

The North Carolina First 2,000 Days study noted the critical importance of early learning and reported that for every $1.00 invested in high quality early childhood education programs, there is a $7.00 return! Increasing a child's chances for success means less money spent on remedial education, teen pregnancies and prisons.

While Federal grants provide 80 cents of each dollar spent for Early Childhood Education program, WCCA must depend on the generosity of our community to raise the remaining share of financial and in-kind support needed to help our children succeed! An investment in early childhood learning can make a lasting change in a child's future!

Apple Country Transportation operates Monday through Friday in Henderson County and provides a variety of transportation services including Public Transit over 3 regular hourly routes, Para-Transit transportation for the elderly and/or disabled for medical appointments, shopping or general needs. Apple Country serves remote areas of Henderson County through its Rural Operating Assistance program (ROAP) and Title 3 Older Americans Act Transportation programs.

Each year, Apple Country makes over 5,000 Para-Transit trips in our ADA-compliant, handicap accessible vans to help our disabled neighbors get to medical appointments, job training, shopping and community destinations!

In 2019, Apple Country Transit drove 114,093 passengers over 363,298 miles to go to work, school, congregate meal programs, grocery shopping, and to other destinations!

Older Adults Services operates in Transylvania County with 2 congregate meal programs, a Mobile Meals delivery program, Liquid Nutrition supplement program, and Serve our Seniors community center activities program at Quebec. In addition, we provide garden vouchers, fans, and boxed meals for our elderly neighbors. These programs are meant to help seniors (age 60+) stay healthy and thrive in their homes and in their community.

With the help of a small army of caring volunteers, Older Adults Services provides nutrition, socialization opportunities and connection to community resources for over 1,200 seniors annually in Transylvania County. Program support comes through public funding, community grants, and private donations. In addition, proceeds raised from the Tiger Town Thrift Store in Rosman, NC are essential to supporting our work with seniors.