On Thursday, April 3rd, 2014, IMPACT Community Action is holding a Poverty Summit, as part of its recognition of the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty. IMPACT is in a unique position to hold this Poverty Summit, since the organization’s roots date to the early days of the War on Poverty. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 – the cornerstone of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s vision for ending poverty in the U.S. – established community action agencies as a core element. Community action agencies are alive and well after half a century in the state of Ohio, with 50 different organizations – including IMPACT – members of the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies. There are those who wrongly claim that the War on Poverty was a failure, wasting millions and millions of tax-payer dollars. There are those who claim that community action agencies benefited only those working for them and not the citizens of their communities. The reality is that the War on Poverty had a profound impact on reducing the extent of poverty in this country – from 19.0% when it started in 1964 to 12.1% only five years later. During that same time, the child poverty rate dropped by half. Those who worked for community action agencies – including the Columbus Metropolitan Area Community Action Organization (CMACAO) – worked tirelessly to make a better life for the members of their communities.