Pictured are
CYW Manager JoNell Coursen (sitting left) and Marti Brock (standing) with a few of the CYW participants at Cherokee FOCUS.
January Volunteer of the Month
Congratulations Mr. Fred Gabourie, the Cherokee FOCUS Volunteer of the Month for his outstanding work to help the Cherokee County DUI Court.
The Cherokee FOCUS Center for Community Partnerships
Training was held at FOCUS in January for MUST volunteers working on the 2009 Georgia Homeless Count. Pat Whiting is pictured below. Pat facilitated the training for volunteers.
In This Issue:
January Volunteer of the Month
FOCUS on Community Benevolence
Helping a young person and inspiring them to try and reach their true potential, is truly one of our most important charges. Some youth more than others need a special hand in coming to realize what living life at their fullest potential can be like. We label some of these young people “at-risk.” At-risk can mean a number of things depending on the situation. It can mean the youth has acted in a manner that has placed him or her within the juvenile court system. It may mean that the youth has a special situation that does not enable him or her to easily master the movement to high school graduation. At-risk could refer to a youth’s situation at home or it could simply mean that a youth is at home or on their own, living in a low income situation.
To add additional support for these young people, ages 14 to 21, the Cherokee FOCUS collaborative of partners developed the Cherokee Youth Works (CYW) program. With funding from the Atlanta Regional Commission Workforce Investment Act, the CYW program is seeking to make a change with at-risk youth by supporting them in completing their high school education, completing their GED, establishing goals for the future, getting in to technical school or college and gaining the tools necessary to obtain a job and succeed. Independent Service Plans for each individual youth are set up to establish and move forward in any of the above areas that youth may choose. Once these goals, pathways and benchmarks are defined, youth are guided to reach these with the support of the CYW staff. The staff also takes time to ensure that youth who are headed toward independence are prepared for the life challenges they will face. With the CYW life skills and leadership training component, youth are educated on areas such as personal finance, personal health care, decision making, developing leadership skills, volunteerism and community service. Each of these topics is covered in-depth to assure that the CYW youth become successful adults in all areas of their lives.
Guiding the Cherokee Youth Works program is Manager, Mrs. JoNell Coursen. With a Bachelors degree in Sociology and over 25 years of social service experience working with disadvantaged youth and foster care youth in Cherokee County, JoNell is making a difference each day in the life of our young people. And, joining JoNell on the CYW staff is Mrs. Marti Brock. Marti joins the team having just retired last year from the Cherokee County School District as a Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator. Her experience is helping to place the CYW participants in local jobs and positions that will help them identify a career path from themselves.
Cherokee Youth Works intends to be a true community collaborative effort. Support is needed in a variety of areas including: personal and business mentors for boys and girls, paid and unpaid work experience, clothing for interviews and day to day work, gift cards for groceries, academic tutors and program volunteers. Cherokee Youth Works has partnered with the City of Holly Springs to be located at the Cherokee FOCUS offices on Hickory Road. Cherokee Computers has graciously donated a new computer lab at the location, including ten computer systems all with micro-soft office, training tutorials and internet access to the Department of Labor career exploration tools.
If you are interested in referring a youth, age 14 to 21, to the Cherokee Youth Works program or volunteering as a tutor or mentor, please contact Jonell Coursen at 770-345-5483 ext.3 or jonellcourson@windstream.net.
Thank you to our CYW Volunteer Tutors!
Tiffany Baker, Scarlett Genzman, Robby Rokovitz, Nancy Parn, Mary Stone, Connie Richardson, and CYW mentor Melinda O'Neill.
To help the young soul, to add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coals into a useful flame; to redeem defeat by new thought and firm action, this, though not easy, is the work of divine man. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Executive Director of the Family Connection Partnership, Gaye Smith, joined the Region 3 Family Connection Coordinators from Cherokee, Cobb, Fayette, Henry, Douglas, Fulton and Clayton Counties at the FOCUS office. These FCP "Peer to Peer" meetings are very beneficial in bringing area counties together to collaborate on common issues affecting the Metro Atlanta area.
For more information on anything you've read in this issue of IN FOCUS,
email cherokeefocus@alltel.net or call 770-345-5483.
P.O. Box 1191, Holly Springs, GA 30142 ~ 100 Hickory Circle, Holly Springs, GA 30115
The Cherokee County Pre-K Coalition will meet Wednesday, February 11th from 9:00am - 10:00am at Cherokee FOCUS. This months guest speaker is Carson Ray with the Sequoyah Regional Library System. This meeting is open to the community.
The 2009 A Single Heart Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction for a Cause
Get Lucky in Love on
St. Patrick's Day
Tuesday, March 17th
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Join us for the Second A Single Heart Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction for a
Cause. This year's event will be held at the fabulous Skybar, located above
Elevations Chop House and overlooking McCollum Airport just off Hwy. 575 and Chastain Road. There will be a live band, great food, door prizes and a silent auction for a date with your choice of our sixteen professional guys and girls. And if you have a bachelor or bachelorette you would like to refer for our auction, please email Sonia Carruthers at cherokeefocus@alltel.net
FOCUS on Community Benevolence
The Cherokee FOCUS collaborative held its first Community Benevolence Initiative meeting on Wednesday, January 14th, at Celebration of Grace Lutheran Church in Holly Springs. The meeting was led by Cherokee FOCUS Chairman, Rev. Virginia Krekling, and in attendance were representatives from area churches and services agencies such as Papa's Pantry and MUST Ministries. The group met in an effort to identify current benevolent services working in the county and to discuss the potential to develop a system of support to provide a means to break the cycle of need to families with a history of dependency on local faith-based benevolence funds.
Plans are underway for the Cherokee County Youth Summit to be held Saturday May 2nd. Daniel Roberts, Chairman of the Cherokee Youth Council and Summit Initiatives, has been meeting with the CYC youth, helping to guide them in their efforts to design a summit by youth for youth. Other adult CYC steering committee members include Fidel Gomez with UNICO, Kevin Mitchell with CHOICES for Kids, Neely Motiejunas with CPRA, Alvah Beasley with District Public Health and Lee Ellerby with Woodstock City Police. Daniel Roberts is a member of the Cherokee FOCUS Board of Directors and Youth Pastor of Liberty Hill Methodist Church. CYC youth members will be featured in next month's IN FOCUS issue.
And to our Hosts:
Aimee and Shawn Abernathy
Mayor Tim and Sandra Downing
Rep. Calvin and Cheryl Hill
Barbara and Michael Jacoby
Rev. Ginny and Mike Krekling
Joan McFather
1st Annual CHAIRity Auction a Huge Success!
The Cherokee FOCUS CHAIRity Auction was held at the historic Rock Barn on December 13th. Chairs of all shapes and sizes were auctioned off by silent auction as well as a few special seats like Air Tran Air Tickets and a Helicopter ride that were up in the live auction. The event raised $4,053.43 for the FOCUS nonprofit!
A special thank you to our Sponsors:
Cherokee Tribune
Downtown Kitchen
Service League of Cherokee County
WLJA 101.1FM
R&D Entertainment
Cherokee Youth Works welcomed management staff from our new Kohl's in Canton. Volunteers came in on a recent Saturday and helped organize the CYW office making material copies, setting up the computers in the CYW Computer Lab and doing general office fix up to support the CYW program.
Thank you Kohl's!
February 2009
Working Together to Combine Skills, Expertise and Resources for the Families and Children of Cherokee County.