Episcopal Charities Foundation focuses on this page on some of the recipients of its grants awarded across the Diocese of Atlanta. Recipient agencies and their associated programs range from rural to urban, for the young to the elderly, and provide sustenance for body, mind and spirit. "ECF makes the love of Christ incarnate tangible," says board president Ginny Heckel. "Grants are made possible by the generosity of individuals and parishes around the diocese."
ECF supports court-appointed advocates for children
By Ginny Heckel
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
In Georgia every day, more than 40 children are the victims of confirmed abuse or neglect, 220 incidents of child abuse and neglect are reported, and about 8,500 children are in the foster care system. In fiscal year 2009 approximately 16,300 children came through the foster care system in Georgia.
Into these children’s lives, come dozens of strangers: police, foster parents, therapists, social workers, judges, lawyers, and more. Hopefully, one of these strangers is a CASA volunteer. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates.
CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it’s closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence — the one adult who cares only for them.
In the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is Northeast Georgia CASA. Episcopal Charities Foundation has provided funding for this organization for many years. In addition, the parishes in the counties of Habersham, Rabun and Stephens provide support; financial support comes from St. James, Clayton, and St. Matthias, Toccoa; and in-kind support comes from Grace-Calvary, Clarkesville.
In the past year, Northeast Georgia CASA has expanded into five additional counties in north Georgia. With this expansion comes an increase in the number of children served. In this eight-county area served by CASA, there are currently 160 children in the custody of DFCS. Seventy-six of these children have a CASA volunteer speaking up for them.
In the last couple of months here are just a few examples of things Northeast Georgia CASA volunteers have done:
*Been the constant for a deeply disturbed 7-year-old boy who has been moved five times in five months;
*Ensured play therapy began for a 2 year old that has been suspended from day care due to his behaviors; and
*Collaborated with DFCS and the attorney GAL (Guardian At Litem) so a pre-teenage girl did not have to face her sexual abuser in court.
As Melissa Mitchell, executive director of Northeast Georgia CASA, wrote recently, “As we remember that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, know that your (CASA’s) advocacy is having a strong impact on each child you serve. Thank you for what you do not only for our children, but for our community by helping to ensure that each child you serve is placed as soon as possible in a permanent, safe and loving home. Through your advocacy you are helping to prevent future abuse.”
For more information:
National Child Prevention Abuse Month: http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/
Northeast Georgia CASA: www.negacasa.org
Ginny Heckel chairs the board for the Episcopal Charities Foundation. She is a member of St. James' Episcopal Church, Clayton.
Wonderful Days Preschool
at St. James' Episcopal Church, 161 Church Street, Marietta, GA 30060
By Judi Oakley
One of the joys of working with Episcopal Charities is that we come in contact with such places as Wonderful Days Preschool. Located just off the Marietta Square at St. James Episcopal Church, Wonderful Days ministers to our underprivileged neighbors in the central Cobb County area. Begun in 1974, this is an outreach ministry of St. James, and also receives funding from ECF.
I recently visited this school. It teaches English language skills to primarily Hispanic children, so that when they enter kindergarten they are not immediately behind their classmates. Wonderful Days provides transportation to and from school as well as two hot meals each day.
Director Carol Seigrist has two primary goals for the children in her care. The first is that each becomes fluent in English. The second is that each child be given a sense the possibilities that can be in their lives. She is fond of saying, “the kids that leave here are not the same kids that come in.”
These children leave able to communicate and understand the community around them, having the firm belief that there is a better life possible for each of them. That translates into truly leaving no child behind.
Judi Oakley has been involved in the diocese of Atlanta for 11 years. A member of St. Martin in the Fields, Atlanta, she is currently a member of the Episcopal Charities Foundation Board. She says: “Supporting Episcopal Charities is supporting many such wonderful programs as Wonderful Days Preschool.”
Middle Georgia Food Bank for 27 years has been feeding the hungry, now reaches 24 counties
By Laura Logan Benedict
Beginning in 1982, both Episcopal Charities Foundation (ECF) and the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank began their missions to serve the poor. At the time, it was impossible to see how both organizations would grow to become vibrant and necessary ministries in the Diocese of Atlanta.
The food bank is just one of the many organizations in the Macon Convocation that have been supported by ECF over the last 27 years.
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank began as a small group of volunteers led by a Baptist minister, Ben Fore. It started in borrowed space with a donated freezer and a few shelves, and a passionate commitment to feed the ever-increasing numbers of hungry people in Macon and Middle Georgia. That small but earnest grass-roots effort has grown into an organization that today has an annual distribution of 6.5 million pounds, representing 310 participating agencies that serve 24 Middle Georgia counties. In fact, the food bank celebrated an important milestone earlier this month by distributing its 100-millionth pound of food.
As a member of St. Paul’s in Macon I have been aware of the work of the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank for some time. Many members of my parish have served on its board and one was president for two years. But until I became a member of the ECF board and did a site visit as part of food bank’s annual grant application, I had little knowledge of the scope of its work, nor its immense impact on not only the city of Macon, but the entire Middle Georgia Area.
After my visit and meeting with its director, Ronald Raleigh, as well as others who work at the food bank, I now know in intimate detail the commitment that they bring to every day’s work, a work that depends almost totally on the generosity of others, and then on the organizational skills of staff to insure the integrity of all fresh food that is donated.
Organizations large and small throughout this diocese depend on funding from ECF to support their operations and provide credibility for other fund raising. Being a member of the ECF board has taught me the value of both vetting these organizations and providing financial and other resources to carry out their missions to serve those in need. That encourages me to be a good steward of my own giving, and to be intentional about it. I believe that one cannot serve on this or any non-profit board without investing both time and dollars — in a significant way, as means allow — and that commitment binds the board member to the mission as nothing else can.
For me, as an Episcopalian, participating only in parish life can limit my vision to only local needs and local causes. Those things are part of our everyday lives and important. However, it is easy to become complacent and parochial, and fail to see the larger needs of a broken world. ECF has allowed me to work with Episcopalians from parishes throughout the diocese, and with programs - both large and small – that respond to the church’s mission. I have found a real satisfaction in being part of the decision making and the allocation of funds. Larger than all this is the real joy I find in meeting the people who are actively changing the lives of those to whom they minister, and doing it on a shoestring budget. I am awed by the commitment to mission that I witness in the many programs around our diocese. Many great things are happening. I want us all to be a part of it!
Lauren Logan Benedict is an attorney and Macon City Council member. She is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Macon, where she has served on the vestry and as senior warden. She is a member of the Episcopal Charities Foundation board of directors.
Camp Summer Spree teaches peace to high-risk youth
The board, staff, volunteers, and campers of Camp Summer Spree in Watkinsville work hard towards putting into action the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “If we are to reach real peace in this world, we have to begin with the children.”
Camp Summer Spree uniquely serves traditionally underserved high-risk youth (ages 12-18) in the Athens area. In 2003 David and Becky Lockman, members of St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, established the camp at their home in Watkinsville.
Located on 10 acres, the camp brings community members together to make a positive difference in children’s lives. Camp Summer Spree provides a fun, nurturing and educational environment, where kids who need an extra measure of support are guided and encouraged to realize their full potential individual value.
Most campers are referred to the program by the Athens-Clarke County Department and Family Services or by the Athens Housing Authority. They have been, or are currently, part of the protective service system. Disadvantaged children from other agencies also are considered.
Camp Summer Spree fills an important niche in the children’s lives because most state and privately sponsored programs exclude this age group and state and local sources tend to overlook the developmental needs of abused and neglected youth, Becky Lockman said.
Over the years the campers have transformed into positive, forward-looking young people who have found their voices and talents and are beginning to move forward to becoming contributing members of their communities.
We now hear conversations among them about how the camp has changed their lives, that if it weren’t for the camp they would be staying home all summer doing nothing, and that with the help of the camp they are learning how to look to the future with their education plans.
This year we served 34 children, 22 of whom had attended the camp in previous years. Campers are a diverse group; boys and girls, 14-15 years of age, primarily African-American.
Two of our campers graduated from high school in May and have enrolled at Athens Technical College. One of these children will be the first in her family of eight to go to college. Another camper, who is now 19 years old and job hunting, returned to the camp this summer to serve as a full-time volunteer. His contribution was amazing and served as a wonderful example to the others of giving back to his community.
Arriving daily around 8 a.m. and departing around 4 p.m., campers eat breakfast and attend morning assembly, and have free time for gym and computer lab. They attend one of four classes each morning through which the campers rotate. Afternoon activities or field trips round out the day.
Morning classes:
Non-Violent Communication--Conflict Reconciliation (Martin Luther King Jr., Thich Nhat Hahn, Mahatma Gandhi), Pilates, Yoga, African Art, Tie Dying, Creative Writing (Poetry and Short Stories), Jewelry Making, Photography, Nutrition, Cooking, Black History, Taboo (vocabulary development), Cosmetology (hair treatment and maintenance), Cultural Studies.
Afternoon activities:
Dance-Dance Revolution, Basketball, Ping Pong, Canoeing, Kayaking, Fishing, Swimming, Rope Swing, Board Games, Physical Fitness, Slip and Slide, Movies, Use of Computer Lab, Kick ball, Dodge ball, Biking.
This year’s Camp Summer Spree continued the theme, “Changing the Generational Cycle,” with a special focus on nonviolent communication and conflict reconciliation.
In April, several of the campers, along with Camp Summer Spree staff, attended a Nonviolence Communication and Conflict Reconciliation workshop in Atlanta presided over by Mr. Charles Alphin, a staff member at the Martin Luther King Center and Senior Trainer for LaFayette & Associates and The Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, University of Rhode Island. After continuing these teachings at camp and adding to them the basic teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hahn, Camp Summer Spree hosted a community-wide workshop conducted by Mr. Charles Alphin using the Six Principles of Kingian Non Violence. Sixty people representing 13 local organizations and/or churches attended. After learning the material and techniques, Summer Spree campers will go out into the community to teach middle-school aged children the principles of nonviolent communication and conflict reconciliation. Additionally, Camp Summer Spree is laying the groundwork for a follow-up workshop in the fall for school administrators and teachers, juvenile justice workers, police and corrections personnel, and representatives from the courts.
According to the Surgeon General’s 2001 report, youth violence is one of the nation’s most serious, insidious and complex problems that affect all aspects of society. Summer Spree campers come from a population of disadvantaged youth who are more likely than youth of similar ages across the State of Georgia to be exposed to conditions of high unemployment, violence, crime and drugs at home and in their communities. These conditions influence how our youth see the world, the choices they make and their aspirations for the future.
By teaching nonviolence strategies we want to reduce delinquency, truancy and violence and help youths to successfully adapt to their environment. According to Blueprints for Violence Prevention, a U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention publication, programs that use social and cognitive skills training approaches that teach self-control, social and problem-solving skills are effective in reducing problem behaviors.
The project was designed so that the campers would become familiar with nonviolent strategies and be able to teach these concepts to other children, ages 10-13. Also, in previous years, we found a similar, although much shortened, program, to result in the campers themselves refraining from nonviolent behavior during camp, including verbal attacks, as well as maintaining a respect for others—their peers and the staff.
The goal of teaching nonviolence strategies is that the campers will internalize these ideas and successfully refrain from nonviolent behavior beyond the camp training, providing peer support and models for conflict resolution not only for subsequent campers but also for their families and others in the community. Overall, it is anticipated that their moral reasoning, problem solving and thinking will improve, too.
Information provided by Camp Summer Spree
| 
| 
Share
