A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do work that I hadn’t done in years – counsel clients at Project GROW located at the Delowe Village apartment complex.   I had counseled many of these families before.  This day was a reflection of the progress families are capable of making when the right supports are in place.  For many of these individuals, their past difficulties and challenges have turned into success stories.  It was wonderful to hear these clients talk about the gratitude they feel for  Families First and the Project Grow staff that have given them encouragement, motivation, and hope.  

As one of my counseling session came to an end, a resident remarked, “Thank you Ms. Sloan for not giving up on me, for believing in me and helping me to believe in myself.”  Hearing those words from someone I hadn’t seen for quite some time was so powerful and it felt great! What I witnessed that day was growth, strength, accomplishment and empowerment by a community of people who others may have written off long ago. My brief return to direct practice reminded me of why I love my job and the passion I have for social work. I am inspired and honored to belong to a profession that recognizes that all individuals have potential.

March is National Professional Social Work Month – a time for social workers to celebrate, honor and take pride in the work we do and the lives we transform each and every day.  The theme this year is “Social Workers Inspire Community Action” – such an appropriate theme considering the devastating impact of our current economy, and President Obama’s interest in growing voluntary public service programs. 

Families First embraces community action that directly impacts children and families who live in the communities you and I live in. Our current economic downturn has resulted in layoffs, foreclosures, homelessness and a decrease in access to health care.  These conditions have necessitated that each one of us do our part in assisting those who need help most.  While helping children and families to become stronger and healthier is what social workers do 365 days a year, everyone can do something to make a difference in the life of a child. During this month, take some time to reflect and renew your commitment to help those who require additional guidance and assistance.  Here are just a few things you can do to inspire and impact others:
 

• Mentor or tutor a foster child
• Plant a garden or flowers in an impoverished neighborhood
• Solicit friends and family to give to  a cause you’re passionate about
• Start a learning library at  one of our permanency cooperative’s or transitional living facilities
• Organize a community resource fair
• Promote Families First at your church or civic organization
• Look for job opportunities for an unemployed client or neighbor
• Participate in Career Day at a local school

You don’t have to be a social worker to create great change in community.  But I am happy that social workers have led the way in the past, and continue to lead by example.  My young, but very wise co-worker, Sydney Royes-Holmes, so eloquently stated “The great thing about being a social worker is that we have the ability to educate people in the community, and by giving them the tools they need, they too can effect positive changes in their own community.”  

Make change today – contact Families First and begin impacting the lives of children and families in your community. 

This weeks blog is written by Mary Yates, past Families First Board Chair and current Board member. Mary is also this year’s Co-Chair of Families First’s Dining for a Difference event.

Sometimes life comes bearing gifts from unexpected sources. When my husband Charlie and I agreed to co-chair the 2010 Dining for a Difference with Lou and Blanton Winship, I must admit to some ambivalence. It had been 30 years since I’d chaired a non-profit event, and I was not at all sure it would be enjoyable. Especially given that the fundraising aspect was likely to be extremely difficult in the midst of the recession. However, Kim Anderson, the new CEO of Families First, is among the people I admire most, and is providing energizing, creative leadership at Families First, and Barbara Richardson, the Chief Development Officer, who would be the primary staff leader for the Dinner, is a delight. I knew when they asked that it would be on mine and Charlie’s project list for 2009/10. 

Lou Winship, another Board member, and I agreed that our number one objective for the Dinner–OK, after fundraising, which has to be at the top of the list in this economy–was to communicate to our guests some of the ways Families First goes about accomplishing its mission: to ensure the success of children in jeopardy by empowering families. For such a complex agency that delivers many solutions to children and families, that is no small undertaking.

The first task was to decide on a speaker. Many ideas were presented. One Committee member’s suggestion of “The Blind Side” family from Memphis, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, caught fire and we began to work very hard in August on getting them to come.  There was much celebrating when they agreed to be our featured speakers a month or so before the movie was released.Valerie Jackson, the very talented host of the public radio interview show “Between the Lines” also agreed to interview them onstage at the Dinner.
The Tuohy’s dramatically inspiring story is ideal to help communicate the need for Families First’s work in supporting children in jeopardy in our community.

Families First’s participation in last year’s Raise Me Up campaign sponsored by Casey Family Programs and Georgia’s Department of Human Services was the perfect lead in to encouraging Dining for a Difference guests to “raise their hand” to help us support children in foster care. It is our hope that everyone who attends Dining for a Difference will leave the event ready to raise their hand in some way to support children in our community.  

Dining for a Difference’s focus on those served by Families First also involves a couple of young men from our foster care programs, including one of Lou’s mentees, who will serve as our backstage MC. Giving our invocation will be a very gifted athlete (like Michael Oher in The Blind Side) who loves to write and speak. We look forward to hearing him!

We also will introduce 2010 Humanitarian Award recipients, John and Polly Lewis. The Lewises have been foster parents with Families First for over 30 years. She is 84 and he is 90. They have told us proud stories about some of their many foster children, including those who went on to college, and they speak lovingly of the two teen girls whom they currently foster. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis exemplify selflessness, love and wisdom and have demonstrated over and over the transformative effects of structure, security and love. Looking energetic, happy and healthy, they also exemplify the gifts given to them by the children they have lifted up. I’m sure I’ll never forget meeting them and hearing their story. 

I now count among my life’s gifts the opportunity to know the Lewises, and the inspiration of the enthusiasm of all Families First staff, Board and Committee members working to create an evening that speaks of the gifts that come to us when we raise a hand and say we’ll help to make solutions possible for Georgia’s children in foster care.  You can be part of the solution and make a difference too by attending Families First’s Dining for a Difference, making an online donation, or getting involved with one of the many volunteer opportunities.
 

This week’s blog is written by Barbara Richardson, Chief Development Officer at Families First.

Last summer, when we started talking about inviting Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to be our special guests at the 2010 Dining for a Difference, I was a little worried. We knew that they had a compelling story to tell and that it related to the work that we do at Families First to help provide children with permanent, supportive, loving relationships with the adults in their lives. We also knew the movie version of the story was being filmed in Atlanta, which gave it the hometown connection that we thought might help sell tickets (and boy has it!). But I was worried about the Hollywood factor. I was thinking, what if the movie flops? What if no one wants to see it? What if it’s “too Hollywood” and the story fails to ring true. Luckily, those worries were in vain.

If you haven’t seen the movie, you should. And read the book too. If you do both, you will in fact see that the movie version is a bit “Hollywood.” It’s a Cinderella story. But if you look deep you’ll find several messages we can all take from Hollywood into our own neighborhoods.      

There is a message about compassion. The Tuohy family saw Michael Oher as a child in need, and recognized that they were in a position to help. They could have looked the other way, as so many of us do, but they chose to reach out their hands to lift him up.

There is a message about humanity. Despite their different worlds, divided by race and privilege, the Tuohy’s and Michael saw each other as people first. They focused on each other, they loved each other, they called each other family, with little regard to their differences or what other people might think.

There’s a message about perseverance. It has been said that the movie character Michael was “dumbed down” for dramatic effect. The real Michael is an intelligent young man who was determined to break free from the destiny shaped by the circumstances of his birth and upbringing. He knew that the Tuohys were giving him a shot at a different life and he made the decision to do the work to succeed in school, on the football field, and in life.

Because of the success of the movie, interest in seeing the “real” Tuohys at Families First’s Dining for a Difference on March 18th has been phenomenal. We’ve moved the event to a larger venue, The Cobb Galleria Centre, where we can accommodate up to 800 guests. Dining for a Difference is Families First’s only fundraising event, netting up to $250,000 in previous years. We are so grateful that all of the stars aligned to pave the way for an incredible evening on March 18th – the success of the movie at the box office, Sandra Bullock’s stellar portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the hometown connection to Atlanta, Michael’s success in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens, and, of course, the inspiring and compelling story of the Tuohys and Michael Oher. Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script. .     

For more information and to purchase tickets to Dining for a Difference, click here.

This week’s blog is co-written by Candace McCaffery and Roya Irvani.  Candace is Senior VP, Director of Interactive Services & Social Media at Cookerly Public Relations. Roya is a community volunteer. Candace and Roya serve on the Families First Board of Directors and are the co-chairs of Families First’s Advocacy Committee.

Two weeks ago, the Georgia General Assembly opened its second year of a two-year term. As chairs of the Advocacy Committee for Families First, we’ll be watching the many pieces of legislation that could impact families and children. Above all else, the shrinking state budget will again dominate the session.  After seeing state revenues continue to decline, Governor Perdue has proposed large additional cuts in already strained programs.  The state is in a fiscal crisis—not just because of this recession – but also because Georgia hasn’t faced up to the reality that we are not marshaling the resources we need for essential services and are laboring under an antiquated tax code.

Proposed cuts to education, public health and other human services are disturbing enough when viewed as one-time reductions, taken at a time when the need is greatest. But the reality is these are not simply one-time cuts. Deep reductions have been taken year after year for the better part of the last decade. Even more alarming is the fact that the current budget crisis would be even worse without the federal stimulus funds that are plugging some holes, and those funds will expire soon. Then what?

We cannot go on like this.  Georgia’s leaders need to plan strategically, and it is incumbent on all of us to make sure they do. Many states have used the breather afforded by the federal stimulus to address their deficits longer-term, using a combination of cuts and increased revenues.  Georgia has not. Our state has relied almost exclusively on service cuts and has continued granting tax breaks with no accountability for results. 
 
We’re working to change this mindset. Families First has undertaken a leadership role in organizing a coalition to campaign for a balanced approach to Georgia’s fiscal health. What started out as a meeting of nonprofit CEOs in October 2009 now numbers 30 diverse constituencies who share our concerns for the state’s future.  There has been a great deal of work put into this effort by a number of people. You’ll be hearing more about this coalition, its vision and focus in the coming weeks. 
 
You can act now. Become a Families First advocate. We’ll update you on legislation and provide you with the resources you need to take action. Join us in our work to protect much-needed services for children and families in Georgia.