Lower Columbia Community Action Council Incorporated

Lower Columbia Community Action Council Incorporated, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Longview, Washington, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering rural housing development, energy assistance, food security, and community-support services to low-income households and families across the Pacific Northwest. The organization functions predominantly as a sub-recipient (62% of recent awards) on state-intermediated federal grant programs, with a smaller prime-recipient footprint (38%) focused on direct USDA Rural Housing Service awards.

Lower Columbia's capability portfolio centers on rural self-help housing technical assistance, weatherization and home energy efficiency services, emergency food provision and nutrition support, and affordable housing capital improvements. Recent prime grant work includes a $362,300 award from the USDA Rural Housing Service under the Rural Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance program (CFDA 10.420) on January 25, 2027, running through February 2028, delivering construction expertise, homebuyer education, financial counseling, and community outreach to enable very low- and low-income families to build homes through self-help methods in rural Cowlitz County, Washington. The organization also held a prior $299,900 Rural Self-Help Housing award from April 2025 through May 2026 and received two Continuum of Care Program project grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development in October 2022 and May 2023.

Sub-recipient work flows predominantly through Washington State intermediaries. The Washington State Department of Commerce channels Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and weatherization-service funding to Lower Columbia on a recurring basis, with multiple sub-awards documented in 2022 through 2026 targeting cost-effective energy efficiency and health and safety improvements to eligible low-income households. The Washington State Department of Agriculture routes TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) food and funding sub-awards to Lower Columbia for distribution through local emergency food providers, with sub-awards spanning 2022 through 2026. Capital improvement sub-awards, such as roof and window replacements on affordable housing units, appear in the sub-award footprint for 2025 and 2026.

Customer concentration reflects state-pass-through intermediation. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (10 awards), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (6 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (4 awards), the Department of Energy (4 awards), and the Corporation for National and Community Service (4 awards) account for 72% of awards in the source data. Combined dollars obligated across all thirty-nine awards total $8.7 million, with only one award facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating a stable, renewable sub-recipient pipeline rather than significant recompete pressure. The organization operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit with adequate operating records and annual audit compliance to satisfy federal grant terms and conditions.