Collaboratives Announce Funding Awards

Several Family Connection county collaboratives have received additional funding to support their work. These counties recently have secured funding for the following programs and activities in their community plans:

Brantley County

• Children & Youth Coordinating Council - Brantley County After-School Program, Hoboken (third year); and WAIT (Why Abstinence Is Total) Program, One-At-A-Time Mentoring and abstinence/character education components (fifth year).
  
  
• Children's Trust Fund - SAFE (Strengthening Alliances for Family Empowerment) nurturing program for teen parents (third year).
  
  
• South Georgia Regional MHMRSA Board - Nahunta After-School Program, replicating Brantley County After-School Program, Hoboken (second year); and Project CARE (Conflict Awareness and Responsibility Education) anger management classes provided to youth through the alternative school (second year).
  
  
• Grassroots Arts - Hands-On-Art for children and youth (fourth year).
  
  
• St. Mary's United Methodist Church Foundation - Teen SAVE (Students Assisting in Valued Endeavors), an abstinence program (alcohol, tobacco, substance use, and sex), with high school students mentoring middle school students to ease the transition from middle to high school (first year).

For more information contact Laura Kelley, coordinator, Brantley County Family Connection, at (912) 462-5979 or rlkelley@btconline.net.

Hart County

• United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service - Summer Food Service Program 2002 Summer Sunshine Award for successful community outreach. Hart County will be highlighted in a Web publication at www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer featuring best practices in summer food service programs. The county also will be recognized during the organization's upcoming conference and will serve on a panel discussing partnership strategies.
  
  
• Ferst Books Foundation - Imagination Library, a community-supported literacy program that encourages children to dream and learn through reading. Imagination Library promotes parent/family involvement in achieving early school success for children. It also promotes adult literacy by motivating parents and caregivers to read daily with their children. Nearly 200 children currently participate in the program. The program's goal is to have 400 children registered by the end of November. Ferst Books mails one book to a child each month and provides one-fourth of the funding for the program. The Ronald McDonald Charities of Carolina provides funds to purchase Imagination Library locomotive bookends for each child in the program.
  
  
• Communities In Schools - a four-year grant for parent involvement.

For more information contact Larry Pool, coordinator, Hart Partners, at (706) 856-2778 or hartpartners@hartcom.net.

Houston County

• Children & Youth Coordinating Council Title V grant - supporting wrap-around mental health services for 20 youth referred by juvenile court.
  
  
• Quality of Life Voter's Education Project - for a local political candidates' forum covering three topics: the public mental health crisis, early childhood development/health/quality child care, and the adoption of the Child Endangerment Law.

For more information contact Leila Anderson, coordinator, Kids' Journey, A Partnership for Our Future, at (478) 542-2268 or landerson@hcbe.net.

Rabun County

• Quality of Life Voter's Education Project - for the Rabun County League of Women Voters to hold two local political candidates' forums. The award includes funds for a "Get Out the Vote" campaign to include displaying the new electronic voting machines, providing translators for non-English-speaking residents, and providing transportation for disabled residents to get to their voting sites.

For more information contact Tammy Whitmire, coordinator, Community Partnership of Rabun County, at (706) 782-8390 or rabuncpr@rabun.net.

Tift County

• Quality of Life Voter's Education Project - for a local political candidates' forum.

For more information contact Sandra Wright, coordinator, Tift County Commission on Children and Youth, at (229) 388-0741 or tc3y@friendlycity.net.