MCCA may look different in future
MF In the News
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Maryville Citizens for Community Action is an umbrella organization for organizations in Maryville to come together and coordinate their efforts. Nonprofit groups, resource agency service groups, civic groups and others are all able to operate together under MCCA. However, the organization’s biggest challenge isn’t projects or problems in the community, it’s a lack of members.
MCCA began when the Maryville Host Lions saw the need for the town’s various groups to be able to collaborate. It was founded in part by the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce in 1967. The organization’s mission is outlined as “linking resources, facilitating collaborative action in programs and community development projects and looking toward the future needs of the community.” The group has had a hand in many projects, including strategic planning, downtown revitalization, murals, candidate forums, town hall meetings and Maryville Christmas events.
Starting off, MCCA had volunteer leaders who would hold the offices of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, complete with a set of organizational bylaws. However, membership waned, and over time, monthly meetings saw less and less attendance. The chamber has been providing leadership for MCCA, hosting its meetings, preparing agendas and handling all its business.
MCCA will look a little different in the future. The group will no longer have monthly meetings, but will instead meet as needed and when requested to work on issues the community faces. The chamber will continue to maintain a directory of the community’s civic clubs, service groups and resource agencies under the MCCA umbrella. This information will be available to anyone. The traditional soup luncheon in January also will continue under the chamber’s supervision.
Executive Director Becky Albrecht said that they have been trying to find passionate volunteers to step up and fill in vacant roles. But the chamber hasn’t had much success in finding them, and has been looking at changes to MCCA internally.
“We may be changing how it looks and structures a little bit in the future. Sometimes the need for groups changes over time, depending on other groups that come in the community,” Albrecht said. “I think a lot of what MCCA has done in the past is still being done, but it’s being done by other organizations. We’re not sure what the future holds, but it might look a little different.”
Albrecht said that she didn’t know much about the organization before getting involved via the organization’s annual soup luncheon. MCCA hosts a soup luncheon on the fourth Monday in January as a chance for all the groups involved to come together and work together to solve any community problems. Albrecht would attend these luncheons when she was superintendent of the Maryville R-II School District, so when she joined in September 2022, she saw all that went on in MCCA behind the scenes. Albrecht said that she enjoys the position, from networking with local businesses to ribbon cuttings. Her past as superintendent has offered her a different point of view of serving her community.
“The people that I kind of knew and worked with and had some existing relationships with, it’s kind of fun to serve them in a different capacity, to see things more from the business lens,” Albrecht said.
Albrecht said that she’s still excited about working as executive director, and plans to do so for the foreseeable future. One aspect that’s played a huge part in her role has been her relationships made when she was superintendent.
“To be honest, I get to know people probably a little better personally in this role than I did (as superintendent),” Albrecht said. “I love the community, so it’s kind of fun to be able to help the community in a different way.”
