During the April Collaborative Meeting, the collaborative joined forces with the Family Support Council to participate in the Pinwheels for Prevention Ceremony held at City Hall. Mary Smith of the Family Support Council (FSC) extended a warm welcome to attendees, followed by Sandee Hooper, a board member of FSC, recognizing schools that excelled in fundraising for the Pinwheels for Prevention initiative. The remainder of the event centered on acknowledging foster parents and the vital role they play in helping to prevent abuse and neglect. When a child has to be removed from a home because of reported abuse or neglect, foster parents step up and try to provide a stable and supportive home. A panel discussion featuring local foster parents and a DFCS case manager shed light on the rewarding aspects of fostering and emphasized the need for more foster parents within the Whitfield community. Jonathan Sloan of DFCS then presented the Whitfield County Foster Parents of the Year Award to two panelists. The ceremony was a wonderful showcase of the many community organizations working together to help support children and families while seeking to prevent child abuse. This was a great way to celebrate April's National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month!

As part of the Building a Region of Resilience (BRR) initiative, Whitfield and Murray County are pleased to announce the upcoming Journey to Action 2.0 event. We want to invite our Collaborative Partners to join us on Friday, May 10th, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Junior Achievement Discovery Center.

We are looking forward to a great day of activities, exploration of needs and resources, and working together to identify solutions to challenges and barriers that our families face daily. With your help, we will gather the information and ideas needed to continue the work of our Family Connection Collaborative and Building a Region of Resilience (BRR).

We still have a few spots left. To register for this event, use the following link: https://forms.gle/dmUkR5XuZBMzS2zz6

Our upcoming May Collaborative Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 1:00 pm at the Mack Gaston Community Center. During this event, we will highlight summer learning opportunities and resources for parents and families to prevent the summer slide. Join us to learn more from some of our collaborative partners about the exciting summer initiatives happening in the community! Don't miss out on the chance to win summer-themed raffle prizes. I am looking forward to meeting you there.

I have put together a compilation of local camps in the community, and I will continue to update it as summer dates and events are confirmed. You can view the list by clicking the link provided below.

Additionally, I am currently working on a Special Edition Summer Activity Newsletter. If you have any summer literacy opportunities, family events, camps, or information that you believe Collaborative Partners should know about, please share them with me so I can incorporate them!

Summer Camps 2024