About Us
Who We Are
Controlled at the community level, Family Connection is present in every county in Georgia. It is the largest statewide network of communities in the nation that have made a commitment to improve results for children and families. Communities In Schools, present in fifty Georgia communities and over 2,000 communities in the U.S., also controlled at the local level, is the nation’s largest dropout prevention initiative. For the last two years, Worth magazine named Communities In Schools one of the 100 best nonprofits in the U.S.
In our county, Family Connection and Communities In Schools are the same organization. We are a partnership of many organizations working with families to research the needs of children and families in our community, and to work together to address those needs.
Our Over-Arching Goal: All Children Will Succeed in School and in Life.
We pursue that goal by addressing the root causes of problems, building on cultural and other strengths, pooling resources, engaging an extraordinary diversity of community members, and committing to a long-term process of planning, implementation, and evaluation.
Using a family-centered approach, schools, health and human service agencies, business, the faith community, law enforcement, nonprofit organizations, civic clubs, and others work together with families, focusing on academics, physical and mental health, nurturing parenting, economic success, and community service. We tap existing resources, streamline systems to be more efficient and effective, and initiate new projects like those listed below.
A Few of Our Outstanding Partners
Bleckley County School System, Department of Family & Children Services, South Central Health District, Bleckley County Health Department, Department of Juvenile Justice, Cochran/Bleckley Chamber of Commerce, Cochran Police Department, individual businesses, Bleckley County Sheriff, Bleckley County Extension Service, Citizens Bank of Cochran, Cochran Bank and Trust, Giddens and Bennett, CPA, Ruth Baptist Church, Davis Propane
Our most important partners are the families whose children we are serving.
Some of the projects that have been initiated through this process include
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers – Comprehensive after school services
- Drug Free Communities
- Mentoring – One on one relationship with an adult role model
- Prevention Education
- Abstinence Education and Youth Development
- Mental Health Services
- School Based Health Center Initiative
- Eyeglasses, School Supplies, Basic Needs Provision
Our Strategies
- Ensure that at-risk students have access to school based enrichment, remediation and intervention activities in order to graduate from high school.
- Ensure that local students and their families have access to on-going education and related resources (school and community-based) that promote healthy lifestyles in order to ensure high school graduation.
- Ensure that local youth have access to community based youth development opportunities in order to ensure high school graduation.
- Ensure essential support services for at-risk/vulnerable families to improve their stability and remove barriers to the children succeeding in school and subsequently graduating from high school.
- Ensure that vulnerable families improve their stability by having access to educational opportunities that strengthen family functioning.
The Future:
Our success is our partners’ success – we bring them together, they develop and implement the strategies. Our most important partners are the families whose children are being served.
Please join with us through financial support (tax deductible) and/or active participation to achieve our goal that all Bleckley County residents will successfully complete their high school education or obtain their GED.
About Georgia Family Connection
Georgia Family Connection, a statewide infrastructure for aligning efforts across sectors, comes together through two distinct but connected change-makers: a statewide network of Collaboratives in all 159 counties and Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP). Each strengthens the other—and together, they form Georgia Family Connection.
We work toward measurably better outcomes across five key result areas:
The Georgia Family Connection statewide network—the only one of its kind in the country—works alongside children, families, and communities to help them thrive by crafting local solutions that maximize resources and make systems more effective and efficient. This network cultivates collaboration among community service providers, reducing duplication of efforts and allowing everyone to do more with the resources available.
Collaboratives equip local service agencies and organizations with the tools and methods they need to be more effective, helping them develop and work together on integrated strategies to improve child, family, and community well-being. We fill in service gaps in our communities by functioning as an incubator for direct services to families and children when a need isn’t being met. We also respond to urgent situations by maintaining strong relationships and the infrastructure necessary to deliver timely support.
GaFCP unites the statewide network in a shared framework that promotes consistent, ongoing collaboration and peer learning—equipping Collaboratives to draw on communities’ collective wisdom and experience across the state. GaFCP develops effective partnerships with state leaders, private enterprises, and other stakeholders to link the network with public and private funding, resources, talent, and innovation. GaFCP also empowers leaders across Georgia by making data accessible and providing practical tools, training, and technical assistance to support informed decision-making.
