In Focus: The Families First Blog

Kids Count Data Book

Here at Families First, we like to monitor the national trends and data as it pertains to children so that we offer the best services that will ensure the success of children in jeopardy by empowering families. The 22nd Annual Kids Count Data Book profiles the status of children on a national and state-by-state basis and ranks states on 10 measures of well-being.

The Kids Count Data Book is produced annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization, dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. The data below shows the number of children in poverty in the state of Georgia in comparison to national statistics.

Serve a school. Save the World.

"Every man and woman is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive and if he or she does not do it, it will never be done."

Benjamin E. Mays

The crisis that has enveloped the Atlanta Public Schools has been the topic of innumerable conversations, debates and discussions throughout our community and, unfortunately, nationally for countless weeks. Whether or not you have children who attend school in the City of Atlanta, this issue is critical to each and every one of us. At the end of the day, how we respond to this crisis, individually and collectively, is a reflection of our hope and faith in children, particularly children living in poverty, and our belief in their ability to break the cycles of poverty that cloak their present but does not define their future. Ultimately the actions of a few who were entrusted with the education of our most precious resource was rooted in their failure to believe that every child inherently possesses the ability to do something unique, distinctive and wonderful in this world and that it is our duty as a community to nurture that possibility and potential.

Over three-quarters of the students attending Atlanta Public Schools qualify for free or reduced lunch. This portrait of poverty in our community and its implication in the lives of children, is the foundation of Families First’s mission. Hope and faith in children, families and community’s ability to break these cycles of poverty and ensure the ultimate success of children lies at the very heart of what we do and have done for over 120 years.

This week’s blog is written by our board member, Julie Salisbury. Julie is a marketing communications expert who has been a long time, active volunteer for Atlanta Public Schools and, most recently, started "Step Up or Step Down”, a community movement designed to advocate for the continuous improvement of our public schools. Her personal mission is to improve the education of all children in Georgia aligns with the mission of Families First.

Kim Anderson, Families First CEO

Do you know the name of your neighborhood public school? Do you know where the children go when they get on the big yellow bus that ambles down your street each morning? Have you met with a school principal, or do you know your elected school board representative?

These questions are important to us all, because every day behind the walls of Atlanta’s public schools, communities are being built. Teachers are investing in the future of children, working to perfect a potentially priceless product that could one day change our city, or even the world. The success of each one of these schools is vital to the future of our city, our economy, our culture and our quality of life.

But the eyes of the nation have focused on Atlanta’s public schools in recent weeks, as revelations of a widespread cheating scandal captured the headlines. And for the past seven months, the School Board has been laboring through a governance gridlock that placed the system on accredited probation. These twin crises raise many concerns and more than a few questions to ponder, especially for those of us interested and engaged in the future of Atlanta’s children. Most importantly we ask; can it be possible for Atlanta Public Schools to emerge from this time stronger in its broken places?

In Atlanta, 77% of the children enrolled in public school live in homes that are below the poverty level.  And single parents or grandparents lead a vast majority of these homes. These statistics are mirrored in virtually every major city across America. Given some of the inherent challenges many of these children may face outside of their school day, isn’t it time we started looking at public education differently? Certainly from a policy perspective, but what might be possible if each one of us as individuals began to view our public schools differently?

Clearly, there’s only so much education policy makers can (or will) do, but consider what a transformational difference it might make if our top-down approach to education focused on All Children Moving Forward, rather than No Child Left Behind? And what if we as individuals or neighborhoods met that approach with a grassroots effort focused to ensure that local schools envelop the children in our own back yard in a 13-year-embrace that leads to a measure of achievement that transcends test scores?

Schools across our city have a variety of needs that are guaranteed to match the talents and gifts of any individual volunteer. These needs might include tutoring or mentoring a child, reading to a classroom, purchasing supplies for financially pinched teachers or students, volunteering at a welcome desk, implementing an engaging after school program, spearheading a small fundraiser or donating goods, services or financial support from your business.  Providing your time, talent or treasure to your local school pays off in ways that will dramatically impact the future of individual children, but also our community as a whole.

Families First enjoys a lengthy and successful history in service to our schools.  The Families First in Schools program improves parent-child communication through structured activities that encourage fun and supportive family interaction. It also provides an opportunity for parent-to-parent networking, community building and forming relationships with school staff. Its lauded outcomes include increased academic performance, improved student behavior and increased parent and family involvement in our schools.  Another program, CHISPA, works to assure school readiness and achievement among pre-school age children by engaging parents in home visitation, parent leadership and school transition planning. 

Programs like these begin to build a foundation for our schools that can envelop our children in an effective and warm embrace for the 13 years they are enrolled, with these same children emerging from public education more prepared in every way to succeed in the world. 

As you read the news reports about the crisis in Atlanta’s schools and as you look around your own community, what are you called to do?  If we can begin with the attention, focus and cries for change brought to bear by Atlanta’s current public education crisis, and couple it with our own ability to make a difference in the life of a child, we can perhaps change Atlanta’s schools and the world at the same time.

 

The Value of Giving

Families First continuously strives to provide solutions for children and families facing life's greatest challenges. It is our long history of service that has established Families First as the leading non-profit family service agency in the state of Georgia. With so many families facing difficulties, now, more than ever, is the time to empower the community to support strong families and healthy children. Recently, storms have caused devastating destruction in communities all over the United States; tearing down buildings, ripping through homes, and steadily breaking down the very fabric of family security. The media is replete with images of devastation and despair. However  the staff and residents at Weaver Gardens recognized they could do something about the hundreds of families left homeless after a deadly tornado ripped through Pratt City, Alabama, a little over 2 months ago. Weaver Gardens is a transitional living program that provides efficiency apartments and supportive services for mothers aged 17 to 26 who were previously homeless and have one child less than a year old.

At Families First, we strive to provide a place and be a place where families can receive support but also where they can give back to our larger community .This week’s blog captures the reflections of the residents and staff of Weaver Gardens after their recent community service trip to Alabama. It is inspiring to witness our clients truly serve as catalysts for change in the community. Albert Einstein once said, "The value of a man resides in what he gives and not what he is capable of receiving." These gracious women recognized that we all have responsibility for our communities and our children and we all can and should be community builders “raising the village.”

Kim Anderson, Families First CEO

A woman prepares for a wedding in a small church in Pratt City Alabama. She decorates the front of the sanctuary in blue, white and silver. She takes tiny pieces of material, carefully folds them in perfect pleats and places them on the organza. Other women from the community gather to assist her in her endeavors; handing her push pins, placing materials on the bulletin board, chatting about the guests. Just down the street from this church, a building lays in ruin. Debris fills the streets. All around the church are what seem to be scenes from an apocalyptic movie. But still, this little church and the members come together to rebuild a community in desperation.

155 miles away in College Park, Georgia, a group of young mothers and staff at Families First’s Weaver Gardens decide to do something about the devastation in the community of Pratt City.

   “I had been watching the devastation on TV, not just in Alabama but other states as well,” says Brenda Jones, Families First staff at Weaver Gardens, “One night I thought about it and I knew I had to do something. When I told the residents, they thought it was a good idea.”

Mrs. Jones began planning right away to identify a place in Alabama in need of help and the residents began stockpile supplies to donate. After a month of collecting diapers, formula, canned goods, clothing, toys and other necessities,  they loaded up a van with a group of 5 Residents, 5 babies, 3 staff, an after care youth, a mother-in-law, a load of donated supplies…and a partridge and a pear tree! Ok, well maybe not the last two items, but the Residents at Weaver Gardens definitely gathered enough supplies to have Christmas in June.

Pratt City is a small town of about 600-800 people outside of Birmingham, Alabama. “If you blink, you will miss the town,” says Mrs. Jones, jokingly, regarding the size of the city, “The storm just wiped the town completely out. It was a very emotional trip for us but we are anxious to go back.”

A church called Sandusky Church is where they dropped off all of the goods.  

“The pastor, Pastor James Willcutt, really inspired me,” says Mrs. Ayeala Kitwana, another Families First Staff who went on the trip, “There were people of different ages, different races coming together with the goal of cleaning up their community.” Pastor Willcutt found friends and people who wanted to volunteer with bulldozers to help clean up the debris.

 “People were literally picking up branches and twigs; one at a time—that is how much they wanted to help out” says Mrs. Kitwana. “They all knew that if they did not come together to rebuild, it would be very difficult to get the people to come back to such a damaged city.”

Mrs. Jones said that she hopes that other young people who receive services from Families First will have an opportunity to participate in projects like these.

“Many residents may come to Families First with a sense of entitlement or self centered motivation. But after an experience like this they quickly learn to come together to say ‘what can we do, what can we give back’?” Mrs. Jones says, “Through giving back, they are not only impacting an entire community but they are teaching thier children to do the same."

“I was shocked to see all the damage”, says Samantha, a resident at the Weaver Gardens, “I realized that no one was living in the houses so I’m thinking, where are they living? They lost everything! It makes me look at my situation a little differently. I mean I have water. I have food. I have detergent to wash my clothes…I can wash my clothes and they can’t. You hear things but it is different to actually see it. I would love to go back to help out and clean up the debris.”

 
“Many times our youth don’t get that exposure,” says Mrs. Kitwana, “We move fast in this society and we do not always get a chance to say, let’s go see, let’s go take a look. Our youth are not exposed. Their world is right here. We cannot expect them to expand their vision if they never witness or experience the pain of others or the joy of giving back.”

Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Kitwana envision Families First in the community, not just in Alabama, but here at home as well. They see community service as an opportunity to challenge a young person to grow out of their shell and see community development as a personal responsibility.

 “I wish that other homes would do what we did. It is more than just going to the town, they all got the experience,” says Mrs. Jones.

Now, back in College Park, Georgia, the young ladies at Weaver Gardens look at things a little differently. They understand a little more, they’ve experienced a little more, and they appreciate a little more. They know the power of service and the impact that they can make and they know this because they actually went into the community and did something. They can say that at a tiny church in the middle of a tiny city in Alabama, they had an opportunity to realize the value of giving back and the impact that it has on the community and themselves.

 “There is a big human family out there and it makes you more human when you are able to make a connection so that you know that you are not on an island.”

Mrs. Ayeala Kitwana