Ferriday &8212; While it doesn&8217;t name her directly, Dorothy Oliver sure feels singled out by the Bush administration&8217;s fiscal year 2007 budget proposal.

If passed in its current form, the budget calls for the elimination of the Community Services Block Grant, a move that Oliver said would &8220;cripple&8221; the work of LaSalle Community Action Association, of which she is the executive director.

&8220;Our Ferriday office and the rest of our community development centers would certainly be shut down,&8221; she said. &8220;The only office that would remain open would be the (headquarters) in Harrisonburg.&8221;

LaSalle is one of 42 community action agencies operating in Louisiana. It covers seven parishes in its effort to help the area&8217;s working poor to improve their situations.

CSBG grants provide funds for the maintenance of the parish centers and the salaries of the employees. While each of LaSalle&8217;s programs &8212; which include Head Start, weatherization, literacy and energy assistance &8212; receives funding through individual grants, CSBG is less restricted.

&8220;It acts as our seed money we can use to support any other programs we operate,&8221; Oliver said.

This isn&8217;t the first time CSBG grants have come under attack &8212; last year it was also targeted for elimination but was funded anyway after bipartisan support from both houses of Congress &8212; but it doesn&8217;t get any easier.

Marci Phillips, a legislative policy analyst with the National Community Action Foundation, a lobbying group, said the grant program has been getting cut since fiscal year 2003 &8212; which begins Oct.1 for CSBG &8212; usually by across-the-board cuts of one percent.

After a high of $650 million in fiscal year 2002, the grant&8217;s allocation for the country&8217;s 1,100 action agencies has fallen to $630.4 million last year.

Of that, Louisiana received a high of $15,187,724 in 2002 and approximately $100,000 less in each succeeding year.

&8220;Every year it gets more difficult because you get squeezed more,&8221; she said. &8220;They give the money and make across-the-board cuts just to make the books balance.&8221;

The threat of elimination, in other words, makes a one-percent cut a more palatable option.

Phillips and Oliver both know that it is not a good time, especially in an election year, to let lawmakers know that the 1,100 community action agencies across the country actually need more money.

&8220;We could say this program should be at $700-750 million, but with the budget realities&8230;&8221; Phillips said.

While other community action programs are on the chopping block, Head Start, Weatherization Assistance and Energy Assistance are all slated for either a freeze or reduction in funds, it is the CSBG that keeps the community action ship floating, Oliver said, and to eliminate it would be disastrous.

&8220;This move will render low-income communities helpless in their fight to move out of poverty,&8221; she said.