Dayton City Commission Work Session with Miami Valley CAP - September 9, 2026
Dayton City Commission Work Session with Miami Valley CAP - September 9, 2026
Miami Valley Community Action Partnership (MVCAP) presented an overview of its 2025 annual report and programs to the Dayton City Commission during a work session. The presentation emphasized MVCAP's role as a regional agency with a 62-year history in Dayton, providing housing stability, utility assistance, weatherization, and workforce development. The discussion focused on increased community need, federal funding uncertainty, and opportunities for deeper collaboration with the city.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were heard; the meeting was a commission work session with MVCAP staff presenting.
Discussion Items
- MVCAP Overview and Impact: President and CEO Aaron Jeffries introduced the agency, which serves Montgomery, Darke, Greene, and Preble Counties, with headquarters in Dayton. Jeffries highlighted that 98% of U.S. counties are served by a community action agency and that MVCAP's regional scale brings federal and state resources into Dayton. During COVID, the most-served zip codes in Dayton (45406, 07, 02, 03, 17) demonstrated MVCAP's existing infrastructure.
- Economic Contribution to Dayton: In 2025, MVCAP employed 45 Dayton-based employees with a combined payroll of approximately $2.13 million, generating about $53,000 in Dayton wage tax. The agency also operates the Southwest Ohio Weatherization Training Center, supporting workforce development.
- Alignment with Mayor's Flight Plan: Aaron Jeffries and Katie (program director) explained how MVCAP's programs support the city's priorities: housing stability and preservation (weatherization, home repair, lead remediation), utility affordability (financial counseling, home ownership), and upstream interventions that prevent evictions and shut-offs, thereby improving public safety. They also noted that stable housing and utilities are workforce issues.
- Program Scale and Statistics: Katie reported that MVCAP managed about $18.5 million in revenue in 2025, with 87% of expenses supporting program services. Nearly $7 million was provided in direct assistance. Key programs include:
- Utility assistance: Helped more than 6,400 individuals with home energy assistance, totaling over $1 million in HEAP crisis programs (summer and winter).
- Weatherization: Helped 37 households in Dayton-specific programs (e.g., Dayton Home Repair Network), investing about $1.5 million; approximately 85% of households served were in Dayton.
- Weatherization Training Center trained more than 200 workers, drawing attendees from across Ohio.
- Prevention, Retention, and Contingency (PRC) program: In partnership with Montgomery County Job and Family Services, MVCAP saw a dramatic increase in demand—in the first eight months of 2026, they served nearly 94% of the same number of clients as all of 2025. Katie attributed this to reduced employment, rising costs, health crises, and domestic violence.
- A case study: A father with children came for water bill assistance; MVCAP connected him to weatherization and financial counseling to address overall household stability.
- Financial Accountability and Funding: CFO Deb Donnelly emphasized MVCAP's strong internal controls and audit history—no findings in the last audit (total audited funds about $103 million). For 2025, revenues were $18.1 million, expenses about $18 million, resulting in a $58,000 surplus (compared to a small deficit in 2024). 77% of revenue came from federal grants ($14 million brought into the community). Donnelly noted a transition from Ohio Department of Development to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for some programs, which has caused process changes but is improving.
- Uncertainty and Advocacy: Aaron Jeffries acknowledged uncertainty at the federal level (continuing resolution ensures funding through December 2026, but FY2027 budgets are unclear). The reconciliation bill does not directly cut MVCAP grants, but cuts to SNAP and Medicaid will increase need for their services. MVCAP participates in national advocacy networks (National Community Action Foundation, National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition) and is open to joining city-led coalitions.
- Commissioner Questions and Comments:
- Commissioner Beckham: Asked whether MVCAP is back to in-person services (yes, they are open; remote services during COVID caused a misconception). Noted that PRC numbers are on track to exceed 2025 totals, and asked if demand is increasing. Aaron Jeffries confirmed increasing demand, with inflation forcing residents to choose between food, prescriptions, and transportation; staff capacity is strained by available grant funding.
- Commissioner Fairchild: Raised concerns about the reconciliation bill's impact on families through SNAP and Medicaid cuts, increasing need for MVCAP services. Asked about advocacy coordination; Aaron Jeffries described MVCAP's participation in national networks and willingness to partner with the city on advocacy efforts.
- Commissioner Joseph: Praised MVCAP for their responsiveness to referrals, noting they handle difficult cases with care. Linked increased need to federal policies that fail to pay living wages and cut funding for programs. Expressed support for joint advocacy and coalition work.
- MVCAP's Ask for Partnership: Aaron Jeffries requested that the city include MVCAP early in identifying emerging needs, particularly in housing, neighborhood strategies, utility affordability, and services for vulnerable residents. They are already on the housing policy steering committee and are meeting with the Department of Water on a new initiative. They also want to strengthen referral pathways and be seen as a thought partner.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or resolutions were taken; the meeting was an informational work session.
- MVCAP's presentation established a foundation for deeper collaboration. Commissioners expressed appreciation for MVCAP's work and indicated support for ongoing coordination.
- MVCAP was invited to continue engaging with city departments (e.g., Water) and to participate in housing policy conversations.
- The city manager's office publicly thanked MVCAP for hosting the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies summer conference and noted positive feedback from attendees.
- MVCAP will remain a key partner for Dayton's response to rising community needs amid federal funding uncertainty.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. So we're uh happy to have uh a truly valued partner here this morning uh to provide an update on all of the great work that Monami Valley Community Action Partnership is doing. And so I will uh turn it over to the president and uh CEO, Miss Aaron Jeffries to introduce her team and um lead us in the presentation. So welcome back. Yes, right. Thank you very much. It's an absolute pleasure to be here today. We're so excited to be able to share the work that Miami Valley Community Action Partnership is doing in the community and in partnership with the City of D. Again, my name is Aaron Jeffries. I'm pleased to serve the agency as the president and CEO, and I'm joined here by two of my colleagues who I'll introduce in a moment. Um, but we we are so excited to be here today. We reached out to the City Commission office to ask if we might be able to come and give a brief presentation on our 2025 annual report, and they did us one better and said, Why don't you come for a work session and talk to us about your programs and what you do in the community and how we can partner together? So we so appreciate this opportunity. We want you to see this presentation as a relationship builder, not an ask for funding, but just an info share on the on the services that we provide in the community and how we might be able to partner in the shared goals that we have for the city of Dayton. I'm joined here by two of my colleagues. Um, first I'll introduce Deb Donnelly. Deb has been with the agency for just over 10 years now. She is our vice president and chief financial officer, and you may have seen her because she was recently designated a 2026 CFO of the year by Dayton Business Journal. So we're so excited to have her on our team. And Katie's going to share more about our programs, our resident experiences, and our partnerships. We are part of the island. We were pleased to serve in that role. Our headquarters is here in the city of Dayton, and there's other ways that we are part of the community in investing besides just the presence. For those of you who might not be familiar with community action, ummunity action partnership is the designated community action agency serving Montgomery, Dark Green, and Prebel Counties. This is a statewide designation. Each county in the state of Ohio does have a designated agency that serves that role, and that gives that community access to specialized funding that is catered specifically to the needs of the community. And there's lots of different ways that we make sure that our programs are meeting community needs. Beyond that four county service area, we do provide some specialized services specifically in weatherization and the electric partnership program to help with energy efficiency. But I want to share with you that 98% of the counties across the United States are served by a community action agency. So it's very important work. As I said, we are so pleased to have our headquarters here in Dayton. In addition to our location at 719 South Main Street, our office location, we also have our Southwest Ohio Weatherization Training Center, which we'll hear more about later in our presentation. We are a regional agency, but that regional scale is an asset to residents in the city of Dayton. It allows our agency to bring infrastructure, specialized expertise, federal and state resources, and partnerships back to the city of Dayton. If we look back at our statistics specifically during COVID, many of the zip codes that were served the most through our COVID rental assistance program were in Dayton. Those are codes 45406, 07, 02, 03, and 17. This is evidence that when Dayton faced an extraordinary crisis, NVCAP already had the infrastructure and the relationships needed to respond. So that ability to respond did not happen overnight. It reflects decades of investment in the local infrastructure. Our presence in Dayton creates local economic value for the city of Dayton and for the region. In 2025, we employ 45 employees who worked in Dayton, and that combined payroll was about 2.13 million dollars, which led to about $53,000 in Dayton work tax. Additionally, MVCAP contributes to Dayton economically not only as an employer but also as a purchaser, as a trainer through that workforce development site, the Weatherization Training Center, and a source of outside investment. Our presence in Dayton creates value beyond the services we provide. It helps to support the employment, develop skills, and bring resources back into our local economy. We want to share that the work that MVCAP does naturally aligns with the mayor's flight plan. Much of the work identified in the flight plan is work that MVCAP is already doing alongside our Dayton residents. So for the first runway, people centered governance. We have programs that address housing stability and housing preservation. Something that's really important to know about our programming is through our weatherization program, we are able to improve tenant occupied structures. You'll know that federal funding, there's not a lot of federal funding around that can help minimal occupied structures.
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