Rural Community Assistance Program
The Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) began in 1973 with the mission of assisting rural Americans in their efforts to improve the quality of life in their communities.
RCAP is a national non-profit network providing opportunity, assistance and practical guidance to small communities in all fifty states, U.S. territories, and on tribal lands. RCAP’s mission is to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitary wastewater disposal and improve the quality of life for rural communities, so every American can reach their full potential.
The West Virginia Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) is a program of the West Virginia Community Action Partnership Inc and is part of the Great Lakes RCAP network, and receives funding from a number of federal programs to provide technical assistance to communities under 10,000 population.
What We Do
RCAP has a team of Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) who live and work in the communities we serve. These TAPs help communities by assessing the technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capabilities of water or wastewater systems, making recommendations for areas needing improvement, and providing technical assistance and on-site training to systems to enable and ensure improvements can be achieved which will improve the system’s capabilities and help achieve long-term viability.
WVRCAP is dedicated to working side-by-side with small, rural communities to find creative, innovative and local solutions to their problems. WVRCAP helps communities find solutions in the areas of capacity building, compliance, disaster management, management and finance, operations and maintenance, planning and development, and much more.
How We Are Funded
Traditional funding for RCAP is provided through grants by the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Community Services under the Rural Facilities Grant Program, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Services are often provided free to small, rural, low income communities that need assistance in developing and providing safe drinking water and sanitary sewerage services to their residents.
Last year West Virginia RCAP utilized funding to provide service to assist over 109 utilities in 47 counties throughout the state for assistance with capacity building, compliance and environmental health, facilities development, management and finance, operations and maintenance or planning and development of water or wastewater infrastructure.