Twiggs County Family Connection

Twiggs County Family Connection is a social change initiative improving conditions for the families and children of our community, developing a qualified work force and competent future leaders for our society. Please come by and see Coordinator Tiffany Cannon to discuss your concerns and ideas at the Family Connection Office at the Board of Education Office 952 Main Street in Jeffersonville Monday -Thursday from 8am until 3pm, or call 478-945-6197 to schedule an appointment any day of the week. You may also contact Coordinator Tiffany Cannon at tcannon@twiggs.k12.ga.us.

Spring Valley Fall Festival

On Saturday, November 6, 2010, the Twiggs County Family Connection Collaborative sponsored a Fall Festival and Resource Fair for the children and families of Spring Valley. Children played festival games together, painted pumpkins, colored, had their faces painted, and had fun while parents and grandparents talked and shared lunch as a community.

AlphaSkills Inc., provided 50 pumpkins for children to decorate and take home. Jeffersonville Church of God provided Fall Festival games for children to enjoy. The Twiggs County High School SHINE girls were present at the event painting nails for moms and little girls, and painting faces and hair for fun. T.Lee’s Feed and Seed co-sponsored a beautiful banner. The Spring Valley Social and Savings Club sold rib sandwiches, hamburgers, and chicken wings. The Mia Foundation Scholarship sold fish sandwiches. The Twiggs County Chamber of Commerce sold cookbooks. Twiggs Transit, CGTC Workready and Adult Education, Twiggs County Family Connection and ABC Women’s Clinic were present to provide information about transportation, job preparation, women’s health, parenting tips, developmental assets for children, GED classes, and more. FVSU extension also sent information about health, job preparation, and parenting, as well as give-aways for adults. Special thanks goes to our volunteers and to Twiggs County Public Schools and KaMin for loaned supplies.

Overall, the event was a huge success, and the group plans to do even more in the future with the residents of Spring Valley. Throughout 2009, the 80+ collaborative partners of Twiggs County Family Connection were asked to choose a neighborhood or small community within the county as a target population for intentional services and programs during FY2011-FY2013. After collecting and reviewing local and state data, the group chose Spring Valley as its target neighborhood for the next 3 years. Recognizing Spring Valley residents’ strong sense of community, influential community organizations, strong relationship ties with each other, and long history of community solidarity, the Collaborative decided on the community as one ready to work together for positive change. While Family Connection partners continue to provide programs, activities and services to all of Twiggs County, they will intentionally monitor and direct certain programs, activities and services to the Spring Valley community for the next 3 years. As this strategy proves effective for positive change, more communities will be targeted in the future.

If you would like to become a partner and/or know more about Twiggs County Family Connection, please visit their website www.gafcp.org/fcnetwork/twiggs or contact Coordinator Celeste Orr at corr@twiggs.k12.ga.us or 478-308-0262.

Spring Valley Speak Out

On Thursday, October 7, 2010, the Twiggs County Family Connection Collaborative sponsored a Community Forum for residents of Spring Valley. Free hot dogs, chips, apples, snacks, and bottled water was provided by Collaborative partners, and residents shared dinner with facilitators while they answered questions like, “What do you like about living in Twiggs County and Spring Valley?” and “What one thing would you change?” Also, residents were asked, “Who do you think could change it?” and “Would you be interested in a Resource Fair in Spring Valley next month?”

The outcome was fantastic, with families sharing dinner together with community leaders, and the Twiggs County Family Connection Collaborative leaving with many suggestions on the assets of the community and the residents’ willingness to work together with community leaders to make positive change.

Twiggs County Family Connection has scheduled the Spring Valley Fall Festival for Saturday, November 6, 2010, 8:00 a.m. until noon. If you would like to participate in this Resource/Health/Job Fair, or if you would like to know more about Twiggs County Family Connection, please visit their website www.gafcp.org/fcnetwork/twiggs or contact Coordinator Celeste Orr at corr@twiggs.k12.ga.us or 478-308-0262.

Shine Girl a Huge Success
Over the past 15 months, Twiggs County Family Connection has been providing Shine Girl, a character development program for girls age 12-18, at Twiggs County High School, Twiggs Academy, and local churches. So far, we have served over 70 girls, and the progress made is more than remarkable!

During the 2010-2011 school year, Family Connection will be working with the Twiggs County School District again to serve high school girls with this 9-week Shine Girl character development program.

A new addition is that girls who have already been through the Shine Girl Program will have a chance to participate in the first ever Twiggs County local chapter of Girls Learn International. These girls will meet once a month over their high school years to learn about human rights, and to practice advocacy, cultural exchange, and fund-raising in their local community.

Kudos to the Twiggs County Shine Girls who went the extra mile to become a Girls Learn International chapter! And a big Thank You to all of the Family Connection partners who contribute in various ways to make this happen for our young ladies!

MENTORS NEEDED!
If you can donate 1 hour per week to a young person in Twiggs County, please contact Family Connection Coordinator Celeste Orr at 308-0262 or Big Brothers Big Sisters at 745-3984 to sign up to be a mentor.

With single parent homes being almost the norm in Twiggs County, our children could use more and more positive role models in their lives. Women and men are needed and encouraged to volunteer, but men are increasingly needed.

Call today to sign up, and you can create positive change in your county!

Confidential Abuse Hotline Available

We now have available to us in Twiggs County a fully confidential hotline to report and ask questions concerning child abuse. The number to call is 1-800-CHILDREN.

Join our Collaborative Meetings

Our next Full Collaborative Meeting is Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. at the Twiggs County Board of Education in Jeffersonville! Please come welcome Twiggs County's new Family Connection Coordinator, Tiffany Cannon.

Or, you can join us on April 27, and June 27, 2011. These meetings are held at 1:00pm at the Board of Education Office at 952 Main Street in Jeffersonville, Georgia, usually with light refreshments provided. We are happy to have any and every community member present who would like to be involved in improving conditions for Twiggs County families and children. Please click below for the full FY2010 Collaborative Meeting schedule.

Let's Go Green!
Please email the Coordinator at corr@twiggs.k12.ga.us to receive your correspondence online rather than by snail mail. This will not only cut costs and expand our budget for more social work, it will also save time and trees! Please join us in this effort!

Project TEACH coming soon!

Twiggs County Family Connection Collaborative's literacy committee has organized Project TEACH, a local board of directors working to make Twiggs County a Certified Literate Community. Through this program, literacy support for every community member from age 0 to age 150 is coming soon to Twiggs County.

This effort was recently awarded funds from the Oconee EMC Round Up Foundation, and services to "promote knowledge, literacy, and learning skills to eradicate the cycle of poverty in Twiggs County and to enrich the lives of Twiggs County residents" are coming in 2010!

Please contact Celeste Orr at corr@twiggs.k12.ga.us for more information, or if you would like to join the effort!

Thank You

Twiggs County Family Connection would like to send a big THANK YOU to all of our partners for working to plan and implement strategies that will improve conditions for our families and children. Please click below to see a list of our partners, and if any new individual, family, business, or public service entity would like to join us in making Twiggs County better for our families and children, please contact Coordinator Celeste Orr at 478-308-0262 or see the Event Calendar for information concerning the next meeting.

Understanding Strategies and Strategy Planning
Read more below to understand how we can form strategies to accomplish the needed changes in Twiggs County.

What you can do to advocate Literacy in Twiggs County
You as a citizen of Twiggs County have the right to make your voice heard, and you have the right to make a change for the better. Currently, Twiggs County's funding for Adult Education is being reduced significantly. You, as a citizen of Twiggs County, can call your County Commissioners and let them know that Adult Education is important to you and worthy of funding. After all, if our adult population does not have the opportunity and resources to obtain an education, our county will not be self-sufficient nor educated nor of good reputation. Also, if our adult population can not receive education and literacy training, then our children and future citizens will not have the at-home education that is vital to their becoming literate and educated and self-sufficient. The cycle of poverty and incompetence can end when Adult Literacy is funded and promoted and used by the population. "School is hard; Poverty is harder." So, call your commissioners today at 478-945-3629 or send them a letter at 425 Railroad St. North Jeffersonville, GA 31044 and politely let them know that Adult Education is important to you. How can they know what matters to the citizens unless we tell them? In this way, you can make Twiggs County a better place. "When education is made a priority and is recognized as being tied to resolving community concerns such as crime, poverty, teenage pregnancy and substance abuse, and when educational achievement is respected and celebrated, those who need to go back to school do so and those who are in school stay there."

About Family Connection

We are part of Family Connection, a Georgia statewide initiative of 159 community collaborative partnerships committed to making measurable improvements for children and families in Georgia.

Our Family Connection Goals

	Healthy Children

	School Readiness

	School Success

	Self-Sufficient Families

	Strong Communities

	Twiggs County Family Connection Region: 6 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 232 Jeffersonville, Ga 31044-0232
	Coordinator Tiffany Cannon Phone: (478) 945-6197 Ext: Cell 912-687-4346 Fax: 478-945-3078 eMail: tcannon@twiggs.k12.ga.us

Leadership Classes for Youth and Parents a Huge Success!

Thanks to the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Twiggs County has been awarded a grant to host Parent and Youth Leadership Courses through July, 2009.

Twenty-five middle and high school students participated in Youth Leadership Day Camp on Wednesday, June 17 through Friday, June 19 at Twiggs County High School. These students learned decision-making and leadership skills through completing Tiger Woods' Action Plan, and they will be selling homemade goodies at the Twiggs County Bicentennial Celebration on September 26, 2009 to raise funds for purchasing new school textbooks.

Also, 45 parents were served through our Parent Leadership Courses, and more training sessions are available throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Please notify Celeste Orr at 945-6197 if your church or organization is interested in hosting a class.