By Frank Brown, Esq. Parents, teachers, students, faculty, and support staff, we’ve officially survived our first online-only semester of learning. But, what was the cost of such a dramatic shift for educators and pupils alike? Closing the academic achievement gap is an incredible task in ordinary circumstances. A global pandemic disproportionately killing Black Americans has […]
Category: Securing Atlanta’s Future
Atlanta is currently experiencing a period of incredible growth and transformation. During this time, it is imperative that we remain committed to caring for our most vulnerable citizens, children. Creating and sustaining an environment where children thrive means actively working to support all aspects of their healthy development. Organizations likeGEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, Junior League of Atlanta, Sheltering Arms, and Communities in Schools Atlanta, are dedicated to promoting and investing in programs that provide high-quality early learning, wrap around supports for children and their families, and community engagement that facilitates the strengthening of Atlanta’s communities, thus securing a successful future for all. Join us weekly as we examine some of the most pressing issues children and families face. We’ll explore potential solutions and discuss steps we are currently taking to address these obstacles.
GEEARS: (Logo attached above) Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students works throughout Georgia to improve public policy, increase public awareness, conduct and interpret research, and lead a movement to support high-quality early education and healthy development for children birth to five. Our vision is that by 2020, every child in Georgia will enter kindergarten prepared to succeed and on a path to read to learn by the end of the third grade. GEEARS’ is based in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.geears.org.
Sheltering Arms: (Logo attached in this email)
Sheltering Arms provides high‐quality early education, child care and comprehensive family support services to more than 3,500 children and their families annually at 14 metropolitan Atlanta locations in Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
Junior League of Atlanta (JLA): (Logo attached below) The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) is an organization of women, committed to making lasting transformation in the Atlanta community. The 100 year legacy of leadership is built on our ability to train women leaders to tackle tough issues impacting women and children, and provides a strong foundation for civic leadership.
Communities in Schools (CIS): (logo attached in this email)
CIS of Atlanta empowers youth in the greater Atlanta area to reach their fullest potential through a wide range of services. CIS places dedicated staff members called Site Coordinators in local schools where they build strong relationships with students, parents, educators and community members.
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JLA Pivots during Covid19 Pandemic to Better Serve the Community
By Bre West, President, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. For the first time in more than 100 years, people worldwide are painstakingly adjusting to a new reality as we emerge from self-isolation in a “semi” post-quarantine era. Many of us are reeling as we try to put food on the table, maintain flexible employment […]
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The Time for Change: Equity and Justice for All
By Blythe Keeler Robinson, President and CEO, Sheltering Arms During the past week, we’ve watched as Atlanta and other cities across the nation erupted in protests and civil unrest after witnessing repeated displays of racial violence and injustice. We’ve read Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ opinion piece in The New York Times as she echoed […]
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Guarding Our Children’s Future
By Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, (GEEARS) Imagine a scenario in which the state of Georgia decided that in order to balance the budget, several thousand students could no longer attend third grade. And what if this happened even though the state had a pool of funds ready to be tapped into to avoid these cuts in the first place? Sounds […]
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Preparing Graduates for a Brighter Future
By Frank Brown, Esq It’s no secret the past couple of months have been challenging for students, parents, and educators. Even so, at CIS of Atlanta, there are stories of hope amidst the chaos. Our site coordinators have been diligent in ensuring children have access to online learning tools and other resources to finish the […]
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JLA’s Centennial Grants Creates Transformative Community Change
Foreword by Andrea N. Smith, President of The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. When The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) celebrated its 100 years of service to the Atlanta community in 2017, it awarded three grants worth a total of $1 million to Atlanta nonprofits. The goal was for these grants to be transformational, […]
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Georgia Has Reopened: Are Child Care Providers Ready?
Blythe Keeler Robinson, President and CEO, Sheltering Arms As of May 1, Georgia’s shelter-in-place order is lifted and the state has begun reopening. Now, parents are heading back to work, and the demand for child care is expected to increase. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), child care centers have had to figure out […]
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Keeping Our Promise to Atlanta’s Children
By GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students When the Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive (PAACT) citywide alliance launched last year, we obviously had no idea what challenges would be in store for all of us 2020. GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Georgia originally convened a group of community leaders from the public and private sector to examine the data, develop a strategic vision, and to […]
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Finding Hope in Hard Times
By Frank Brown, Esq. CEO, Communities in Schools of Atlanta Much has happened in the month since our last column. More than 22 million Americans are unemployed. Miles-long lines of families wait to receive their weekly groceries from food banks. Meanwhile, due to logistical and other challenges, farmers are destroying the crops they’d usually sell to […]
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What about the children?
Featured Image: Voices for Georgia’s Children’s Executive Director Dr. Erica Fener Sitkoff visits with pre-k students during annual Georgia’s Pre-K Week Protecting the vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis By Dr. Erica Fener Sitkoff, Executive Director, Voices for Georgia’s Children Foreword by Andrea N. Smith, President, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. Since its inception 103 […]
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Embracing Families with Open Arms
By Blythe Keeler Robinson, President and CEO, Sheltering Arms Over the past few weeks, people across the entire country have had to make adjustments as we settle into a “new normal.” Many families have had to adjust to the new household arrangements of turning spaces into make-shift offices and homeschool classrooms. Families went from juggling […]
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Georgia’s Guardians Provide a Bright Shining Light in the Darkness
By Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS) The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health and economic crisis, one of the most daunting challenges our country has ever faced. Here at GEEARS, we have been busy advocating for the health and safety of the early education community, and working to secure state and […]
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Supporting Metro Atlanta Students Through Coronavirus
By Frank Brown, Esq. CEO, Communities in Schools of Atlanta CIS Atlanta is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our students, families, and school staff as metro Atlanta deals with the impact of COVID-19. As we enter week two of remote learning for metro Atlanta students, it is more clear than ever that supplemental organizations like […]
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No Family Left Behind: In the Wake of the Coronavirus
Blythe Keeler Robinson President and CEO, Sheltering Arms As destabilizing as the virus is for many people, it is devastating for underserved families with little or no savings. Hourly wages are halted, and there are very few resources to continue meals for the children and utilities for the household in times of crisis. At Sheltering […]
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Good Work Claims Well-Deserved Credit
By: Susannah Balish, Sr Director at Cox Communications, past JLA president, board member, speaker Introduction by Andrea N. Smith, President, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I wanted to extend deep appreciation to The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) members who have made and continue to make a […]
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Count Every Georgian, Especially Our Youngest Children
By Mindy Binderman The census may only happen once every ten years, but it will impact the lives of the youngest Georgians every day. Federal funding directed to Georgia is directly related to the Census. Georgia receives $2,300 per person each year in federal funding based on the final counts, and in total the state received over $1.6 billion in federal funding for programs that […]
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The Fulfillment of Du Bois’ Dream
By Frank Brown, Esq. CEO, Communities in Schools of Atlanta You’re nothing but a poverty pimp! That’s not an attack I would expect to be leveled against me, much less at a gathering of metro Atlanta leaders. While said in a moment of anger, it was a teachable moment for me and others who witnessed the […]
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JLA’s Collective Voice Advocates for Change
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] By Sarah Cadagin, Public & Political Affairs Committee Chair, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. Introduction by Andrea N. Smith, President, The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. The Junior League of Atlanta Inc. (JLA) has a long-standing history of working directly with local, regional and state government to advocate for issues that have a […]
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Time for Georgia to Focus on the Social-Emotional Health of Its Youngest Children
By Mindy Binderman, Executive Director, GEEARS Every child deserves the chance to build a strong foundation on which they can grow. Proper nutrition, medical care, and high-quality early education are all essential building blocks for a child’s development, and it’s no different when it comes to their social-emotional health. Research has found that positive and […]
