Hundreds of individuals and families were impacted by the work of Connecting Henry in 2018 according to a recent release from the organization.
The Community Cares Toy Shop was as busy as ever leading up to Christmas. A total of 259 families with 956 children were served with the help of 150 volunteers. The “Christmas for the Community by the Community” effort provided toys, games, books and stocking stuffers, according to the report.
The SWAG (Students Working to Achieve Greatness) program saw 123 students enrolled last year and 29 earning their general equivalency diplomas (GED). Thirty people participated in short-term, paid Work Experience (WEx) internships with local businesses. That initiative produced 3,500 work hours and put more than $31,000 into the local economy.
Connecting Henry’s Benevolence Network provided direct assistance to 105 Henry County families in need last year – help with housing, utilities, clothing and food in the amount of $26,018. The office fielded an average of 350-400 calls per month with inquiries regarding community resources, and those calls were routed to the appropriate agencies for assistance.
Five Community Collaborative meetings took place in 2018 with an average of 75 attendees. Organizers saw 115 people attend the Healthy Children’s Conference and 102 at the Interdiction for the Protection of Children Conference, according to the report.
Connecting Henry, Inc., a department of Henry County Government and a non-profit organization, is the local branch of the Georgia Family Connection. Its mission is to identify and connect existing resources in the community by facilitating collaboration to strengthen families and children in Henry County.
“We envision a community where collaborative partners work together to remove barriers to empower families to become stable and self-sufficient,” according to its website.
Connecting Henry hosts a bi-monthly Collaborative meeting bringing together community partners to address issues within the county that affect everyone. Topics discussed in the meetings may include homelessness, the crime rate, the school absentee rate, the third-grade reading level of students being below average, grant writing, marketing, and more. The purpose of these meetings is to bring community groups together and to develop solutions to make the county a better place to live.
