Tri-County Community Action Agency, Inc.

Tri-County Community Action Agency, Inc., doing business as Gateway Community Action Partnership, is a New Jersey-based tax-exempt nonprofit that operates as a federal grant recipient, delivering early childhood education, intergenerational volunteer services, and community health and wellness programs across southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania. The organization acts primarily as a sub-recipient on federal grant programs (78% of awards) rather than a direct prime recipient, with a secondary footprint as a prime grant recipient (22% of awards) focused on AmeriCorps Seniors and Head Start initiatives.

Gateway Community Action Partnership's capability portfolio centers on four primary federal grant program areas. The organization manages AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program (CFDA 94.011) awards, most recently a $1.112 million project grant effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, which funds 111 volunteer positions across Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey. Volunteers aged 55 and older provide direct tutoring, mentoring, and educational support to children with special needs or academic disadvantage, typically committing 20 hours per week across schools, Head Start programs, and childcare centers. The organization also holds prime grants from the Office of Head Start (CFDA 93.600), including a $2.14 million Early Head Start project grant awarded February 1, 2026 with completion date January 31, 2031, delivering comprehensive early childhood education and family support services for infants, toddlers, and pregnant women across Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties. Gateway Community Action Partnership additionally operates an Early Head Start Child Care Partnership program launched July 1, 2025 and completing June 30, 2030.

Beyond early childhood work, the organization operates the Gateway Wellness Center, a community-based outpatient mental health and substance-abuse treatment program funded through a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant awarded September 30, 2023 with completion February 28, 2025. The Wellness Center provides trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment to vulnerable New Jersey residents through a team of licensed professional counselors, certified drug and alcohol counselors, and master's-level clinicians offering in-person and telehealth services. Gateway Community Action Partnership also manages a Gateway Wellness Center Violence Prevention Program cooperative agreement with the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, running from September 30, 2023 through September 29, 2025.

The organization's customer concentration sits heavily with federal nutrition and early childhood programs. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (including USDA CACFP and CARES programs) accounts for 85 awards out of 159 total; the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families accounts for 49 awards; and the Corporation for National and Community Service Office of Grants Management accounts for 7 awards. These three customer agencies represent 89% of award count. The sub-award footprint reflects Gateway's role as a pass-through recipient for state and local nutrition programs — the organization receives sub-awards from the New Jersey Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, and Pennsylvania Department of Education for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reimbursements, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) services, weatherization and energy assistance, and community development block grant pass-throughs. Recent sub-awards include monthly CACFP commodity reimbursements from Pennsylvania Department of Education, weatherization and home energy assistance subawards from New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, WIC and breastfeeding peer counseling subawards from New Jersey Department of Health, and CARES food and cash-in-lieu subawards from New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

Activity has grown materially over the past five years: eight awards in 2022 to 43 in 2023, stabilizing at 29–33 awards annually through 2025, with 18 awards recorded through July 2026. The organization's combined dollars obligated across all federal sources totals $981.8 million, reflecting the scale of pass-through nutrition and early childhood entitlement programs. Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete cliff exposure in the near term. The organization has served 13 distinct federal customer agencies since 2007.