Community Action Network, CAN, was founded in 1987 by Cathy Baldwin, a resident of Hikone public housing, and Nancy Bogen, an administrator. These two grass-roots leaders managed the organization, whose purpose was to address the needs of Hikone, for fifteen years until health problems and retirement caused them to step down. (Learn More)

In 2002 CAN restructured when a new executive director was appointed and an almost all new Board of Directors took the helm. A second public housing site, Green Baxter Court, was added and CAN also increased its menu of programs and took on more responsibilities.

In the following years CAN became Ann Arbor's model program of community center based programs and services. Evictions and utility shut-offs, once common, were now rare. The communities became cleaner, residents formed resident councils and neighborhood watch groups, and children performed much better academically and socially.

July 2008 CAN expanded again, this time to add the Bryant and Northside community centers to its portfolio. Unlike Hikone and Green Baxter Court, these neighborhoods are not subsidized or public housing communities. The Bryant area is considered a low income neighborhood, though not every household's income is below the poverty level. The Northside neighborhood is a mixed income community.

CAN is run by an active Board of Directors, an Advisory Council, several working Committees, and center Staff.

CAN taps into many community resources, area churches, the U of M, Food Gatherers, etc., to collaborate on meeting the needs of the residents in our Communities.(More)

Community Action Network (CAN) Ann Arbor, MI from can annarbor on Vimeo.

CAN Director, Mike Conboy, has been operating Serendipity for many years,s providing books to children in Ann Arbor. (More)

Many articles and editorials have been written about CAN. We have a collection of them on our site. (More)

CAN publishes two newsletters a year. They are archived on our site in PDF format. (More...)

CAN makes it financial information available for people who are interested. (More...)