Commitments for the Success of All Children

"Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved."
-Bill Gates


Our partners have made some amazing commitments.  They deserve praise for the dedication they are demonstrating. See some of the many commitments made below.

Family Connection/ Communities In Schools of Athens

  • Overall Coordination
  • Ensure that program goals are met
  • Ensure that services are coordinated
  • Ensure that the community is engaged in the implementation and evaluation of the program
  • Ensure that existing and new resources are effectively and efficiently maximized.
  • Provide $123,419 in cash match for grant
  • Serve as fiscal agent for WIT.
  • FC/CIS community and civic volunteers and partners will provide a significant amount of in-kind contributions that will be tracked throughout the year, including all meetings.
  • Manage contracts
  • Provide quarterly financial and program reporting to US DoE and local partners
  • Hire and supervise program staff
  • Oversee implementation of the longitudinal data system.
  • Manage the community, resident, and partner engagement process
  • provide publicity, dashboard reporting, meeting facilitation, and training coordination.
  • Share lessons learned through its state and national partners (Ga. Family Connection, CIS of Georgia, CIS National, Clinton Global Initiative).

Alston & Bird

  • $25,000 in legal services

Clarke County School District

  • Serve as a member of WIT and serve on the Board of Directors
  • Provide a significant contribution of staff time and expertise that will be tracked     and reported for in-kind match. Staff time will be contributed and tracked from the following (but not limited to):
  • Superintendent (55.41 hours/year)
  • Deputy Superintendent (10 hours/year)
  • Associate Superintendent for Instruction (77.16 hours/year)
  • Executive Director of Technology Services (104.41 hours/year)
  • Director of Public Relations and Communications (40 hours/year)
  • Director of Student Achievement and Educational Equity (79 hours/year)
  • Director of Office of Grants and Research (72 hours/year)
  • Director of Applied Learning and School-to-Career Education (59 hours/year)
  • Director of Office of Early Learning (81 hours/year)
  • Coordinator of Professional Learning (99 hours/year)
  • Director of Office of Assessment and Accountability (48 hours/year)
  • Director of Teaching and Learning (38 hours/year)
  • Director of School Nutrition (44.5 hours/year)
  • School and program site staff (50 hours/year)
  • Provide all accounting functions for the grant funds including contracting, payroll for program staff, purchasing, quarterly financial reports to the initiative, and an annual audit (a part-time budget assistant funded by the grant would assist with this)
  • Office space (currently in North Athens School and integrated into HTE   renovated facility)
  • Office furnishings (valued at $1,000/year)
  • Internet connection (valued at $720/year)
  • Local phone service (valued at $600/year)
  • Record keeping/Accounting (valued at $25,000/year)
    • Coordination of local and state funds to support the proposed program (valued at $500/year)
    • Publicity about the program to students, parents, system personnel, and the community ($1,200/year)
    • Work with project and national evaluators to ensure timely data collection, selection and monitoring of indicators, reporting of outcomes, and use of findings for continuous program improvement.
    • The school system’s Executive Director of Technology Services will continue to serve on the Longitudinal Data Committee and will provide input, guidance, applicable federal, state, and local privacy laws.
    • The H.T. Edwards facility (upon completion of renovations) will be provided as the headquarters for the WIT initiative.
    • Clarke County School District programs at H. T. Edwards and in the Alps Road target area serve families from prenatal to post-secondary preparation (Early Head Start, Head Start, Pre-Kindergarten, Family Literacy, Alps Road Elementary, Clarke Middle, Clarke Central High, Performance Learning Center, Athens Community Career Academy).
    • The school system will provide in-kind meeting space for WIT, resident, family, and partner meetings (large community meetings in high school auditoriums, smaller meetings in conference rooms and classrooms, valued at $2,000/year).

The total in-kind contributions of the Clarke County School District commitments are valued at $87,311 and provided through state and local funds.

NE Health District and Clarke County Health Department (Health District)

  • Participate as a member of WIT and the District Director or County Manager will serve on the Board of Directors
  • Provide a significant contribution of staff time and expertise which will be tracked and reported for in-kind match, including but not limited to:
    • District Director and Deputy Director;
    • County Manager;
    • Child and Adolescent Youth Services Director;
    • Babies Can’t Wait Director; and
    • WIC Director.
    • Provide input, guidance, expertise, and data for the longitudinal data system including compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local privacy laws.
    • Conduct behavior and risk surveys of public school students.
      • Work with the project and national evaluators to ensure timely data collection, selection and monitoring of indicators, reporting of outcomes, and use of findings for continuous program improvement.
      • Provide meeting space
      • Aid in engagement of youth served through its programs.

The NE Health District in-kind commitments are valued at $13,376 and provided through state and local funds.

University of Georgia, College of Education

  • Participate in planning related thereto
    • Continue its Partnership Initiative with the Clarke County School District on school reform
  • Continue the professional learning activities currently underway.

apply lessons learned in the current year of implementation of the Professional Development School Initiative (university faculty working collaboratively with district personnel for exploration and implementation of high-impact practices) to other schools in the District.

Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

  • A member of the Mayor & Commission of the Unified Government will serve as a member of WIT as well as serving on the Board of Directors
  • Provide significant staff time and expertise from the Departments of
    • Police,
    • Leisure Services and
    • Human & Economic Development,
    • the Juvenile Court Judge and
    • any other pertinent departments
  • Coordination with various programs including
    • Community Development Block Grant,
    • HOME,
    • Weed and Seed, and
    • other programs administered by ACC.

Various facilities will be made available to the initiative at no cost, such as neighborhood community centers, for meetings and other important events.

OneAthens

  • The OneAthens teams will provide a significant contribution of individual leaders’ time and expertise which will be tracked and reported for in-kind match, including
    • Early Care & Education (four quarterly meetings averaging twenty community leaders each, plus additional time as described elsewhere),
    • Health (twelve monthly meetings averaging 15 participants, plus 10 hours per month of time of coordinator Dr. Paul Boumbulian, plus 10 hours per month of Masters of Public Health interns under Dr. Boumbulian’s supervision),
    • Teen Pregnancy Prevention Task Force (four quarterly meetings averaging 20 participants),
    • Steering (ten meetings averaging 25 participants), and
    • Executive (ten meetings averaging 5 participants).

The total in-kind contributions of the OneAthens commitments are valued at $46,600 and provided with no federal funds.

Athens Regional Mind Body Institute

  • Participate as a member of the initiative.
    • Staff will participate in the planning process and ensure MBI strategies related to mindfulness and health are embedded in the WIT initiative

Athens Health Network

  • Participate as a member of WIT
  • Work to establish a medical records system among the providers
  • Participate in planning a longitudinal data system with WIT
  • Bridge resources from the University to those in need in the community
    • Plan for a smooth local implementation of national health reform promote wellness, and
  • Engage health partners.

The total in-kind contributions of the AHN are incorporated into the OneAthens match (above) and provided through local funds.

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

  • Provide technical expertise in development of a longitudinal data system
  • Donate $9,400 worth of time of the $25,000 cost of the technical expertise.

After implementation of the longitudinal data system, CVIOG will be in a position to help implement it in other communities through Georgia and elsewhere.

Athens Area Community Foundation

  • Serve as a member of the WIT Initiative Team
  • Attend monthly inter-agency meetings and subcommittee assignments
    • Provide staff time and expertise which will be tracked and reported for in-kind match, including (but not limited to):  President/CEO (17 hours/month)
      • integrate lessons learned from WIT’s planning, collaboration, and implementation process in its grant making deliberations for programs that support
      • (i) public and private education, at all levels, including prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, and higher education;
      • (ii) human services, including an emphasis on children, families, and the aged;
      • (iii) workforce development;
      • (iv) affordable housing;
      • (v) medical and hospice care;
      • (vi) public transportation;
      • (vii) art and cultural activities;
      • (viii) green space preservation and environmental initiatives;
      • (ix) building community, and
      • (x) economic development and revitalization, in collaboration with chambers of commerce and economic development agencies and authorities locally.

The total in-kind contributions of AACF commitments are valued at $10,200.00 and provided through local funds.

Communities In Schools of Georgia and National Office

  • Training,
  • Communications,
  • Advocacy, and
  • Community development support

Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia

  • Staff will serve as a member of the WIT Initiative Team including attending monthly inter-agency meetings and subcommittee assignments.
  • Girl Scout staff will provide volunteer training and materials for participating leaders.
  • Provide volunteer troop leaders ($15/per 4 hour x 10 mos. =$600  3-4 leaders)
    • Provide the Girl Scout program to interested girls in locations throughout the WIT footprint (potentially girls – 30-40 troops of 10).  Program materials include topics such as: confronting relational aggression, financial literacy and leadership.

The total in-kind contributions of Girl Scout commitments are valued at $3000 and provided through local funds

Georgia Family Connection Partnership

We agree that to achieve results for all children and break the cycle of poverty, a place-based approach to offering comprehensive services and programs will be successful in Athens, Georgia. We look forward to participating in collaborative efforts with you and your other partners to develop a Promise Neighborhood in Athens/Clarke County.

GaFCP will:

  • Assist with planning activities,
    • Provide in-kind resources such as sub-county data analysis through our Kids Count database,
    • Offer Strategy Financial Mapping which is a facilitated sustainability process to assist collaborative partners in identifying alternative fund sources for grant initiated programs and activities. The process assists partners in
      • (1) clarifying the target populations served by a coordinated array of programs and activities designed to achieve a common goal,
      • (2) aligning the target population’s programs and activities with the requirements of resources serving the same population, such as IDEA Part C, Medicaid, Title I, Title IV-B, Title IV-E, Title V, etc…, and
      • (3) assisting the collaborative partners in developing a plan to engage the funding partners in the strategy to facilitate incorporation of the best practices identified from the grant period into the ongoing programs and activities of the partners. This process is used by GaFCP to help strengthen and sustain comprehensive strategies to improve child and family well-being.

YWCO

  • Serve as a member of WIT including attending monthly inter-agency meetings and subcommittee meetings
  • Provide staff time and expertise which will be tracked and reported for in-king match
  • Provide meeting space for meetings
  • Integrate lessons learned from WIT’s planning, collaboration, and implementation process

Athens Farmers Market

  • Serve as a member of the WIT Initiative Team including attending monthly inter-agency meetings and subcommittee meetings
  • Provide access to its market patrons (averaging 1,700 community members, including EBT-users whose value is doubled for each purchase)
  • Collaborate to introduce our community’s children to local, fresh, healthful food and the local farmers who grow the food.
  • Work to change our children’s relationship to food and its origins and encourage them to make conscious decisions about food

Greater Works Outreach, Inc

  • Attend bimonthly meetings,
  • work with after school programs, and
  • collaborate with other local mentoring agencies

Hancock Corridor Development Corporation

  • Participate in planning meetings and committees
    • Work to develop comprehensive services centering on life skills, mentoring, tutoring, and after-school education and activities
    • Promote micro-enterprise training to entrepreneurs, and
    • Integrate lessons learned from WIT’s planning, collaboration, and implementation process in its work.

Athens-Clarke Literacy Council

  • Work to engage parents as learners to impact their children’s achievement as students.

Institute for Community & Organizational Development

  • Serve as a member of the WIT Initiative Team serving on sub-committees and attending inter-agency meetings through planning and implementation.
  • Share experience and skill sets for organizational collaboration.
  • Act as a liaison to other community-based organizations and faith-based groups.

Advantage Behavioral Health Systems

  • C.E.O. will serve on Board of Directors
    • Child & Adolescent Services Director will participate in monthly inter-agency meetings and subcommittees
    • C&A Services will provide staff time and expertise and will track and report it, including 5 hours/month of C&A Director’s time
  • C&A will integrate lessons learned in it services

Total in-kind value: $1,800

Children First

  • Participate in planning.
  • Specific strategies for helping at-risk children and families
  • Resources and support for implementation

Interfaith Hospitality Network

  • Participate in planning
  • Specific strategies for children and families experiencing homelessness

Prevent Child Abuse Athens

  • Participate in planning.
    • Provide specific strategies for preventing abuse and neglect and supporting families.
  • Engage readiness-for-school team (GOCF grant)

OneAthens Early Care & Learning Team

  • Identify, work for, and discuss progress toward the goal of ensuring access to quality early care and education programs for all Clarke County children ages birth to five years,
  • Develop strategies for addressing gaps in services,
    • Collaborate. For instance, providers of early childhood training are meeting to develop a series of trainings for child care providers;
  • Support expansion and enhancement of existing programs (e.g., Head Start),
    • Work to bridge the gap between the average cost of quality child care and what the federal child care subsidy plus parent co-pay covers by working to provide Hope for Babies scholarships to quality child care for children living in poverty.
    • Support efforts to provide quality early care and education specifically in the Whatever It Takes neighborhood of focus including:
      • a) assistance to private child care homes and centers in achieving national standards of quality,
      • b) development of new quality child care programs as needed,
      • c) expansion of center-based and home-based publicly-funded early care and learning programs,
      • d) scholarships for poor children to attend quality child care, and
      • e) assistance for child care providers to become credentialed early childhood teachers.
      • Jean Gowen: 7 hrs/month, Lisa White:  4 hrs/month (Lisa is chair of Training Committee), others (total): 5 hrs/month @ (average 15 members/meeting)

TOTAL:  $1,600/mo

Other partners committed to/involved in the process:

Athens Area Chamber of Commerce; Athens Technical College; Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, Northeast Georgia and Athens offices; Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Juvenile Court; Clarke County Department of Family & Children Services; Georgia Department of Labor, Northeast Georgia Office; Athens Regional Medical Center; St. Mary’s Health Care System; Free I.T. Athens; Clarke County Mentor Collaborative; ACC Police Department; ACC Library; ACC Department of Leisure Services; ACC Department of Human & Economic Development; Athens Land Trust; PLACE (food system collaboration); Athens Child Development (nonprofit child care centers); Athens Housing Authority; AthFest (music and arts organization); R.E.M.;  Building Friendship Frontiers (working with children with autism); Beautiful Godly Girls (out-of-school hour mentoring program); Rites of Passage; faith-based organizations; Boys & Girls Club; Mercy Health Clinic; N. E. Georgia Nurses Foundation Clinic; The Cottage Child Advocacy Center; Project Safe; Quality Care for Children; Goodwill; Young Dawgs (apprenticeship program); Athens Neighborhood Health Center; Junior League of Athens; Athens Community Council on Aging; GoodGuides; and Habitat for Humanity.