Advocates for Children

---- ONE FAMILY'S STORY----

The Watkins Family

THRIVE Family Resource Center has been a constant resource for the Watkins* family for more than a year, working hand in hand to provide wrap-around support so they can stabilize and succeed together.

The Watkins family of five was referred to THRIVE in May 2023 due to an investigation by Child Protective Services (CPS) in Cobb County. Watkins and her family shared one hotel room with twelve people, including her mother and her sister, who has five children. The clients had many needs and required ongoing support to avoid having the children removed to foster care.

They worked with an Advocates Navigator through frequent meetings focused on life skills and goals. THRIVE provided hotel assistance and helped with car payments to ensure Watkins could drop her children off at school and get to work. Workforce resources led to employment and a steady income.

Thanks to THRIVE's extensive support, Watkins now has an apartment for herself and her children. The Advocates’ assistance alleviated some of her financial burdens, allowing her to focus on caring for her children. THRIVE supplied healthy food for the children and helped her apply for other resources from partner organizations and churches. THRIVE also provided the children with necessities such as clothing and books.

The THRIVE Family Resource Center was a committed resource in this family's journey to success. As the result of these combined resources and support, the Watkins CPS investigation is now closed.

*name changed

Shaw Industries hosted a United Way event for its Cartersville employees to give clarity on how their contributions benefit others. Advocates for Children participated along with other nonprofits at Dellinger Park and met with hundreds of employees.

Advocates is honored that many Shaw Industries employees are interested in volunteering, and we look forward to expanding our Advocates team with these community-conscious people!

United Way of Bartow County Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

WE NEED YOU!

You don't need a cape to be a hero. Discover your superpower as a CASA volunteer by advocating for children in foster care. Join us in making a lasting impact on the lives of children in our community.

Our next CASA training begins September 10th. Will you consider joining us?

Visit our website to register today! https://advochild.org/casa/

🏠 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE ON NEWMAN HOUSE 🌟

The Newman House is coming to life!

🛠️ The framing is nearly finished, bringing us even closer to realizing this dream! With each passing day, we’re making strides towards completion and eagerly anticipate the moment we can welcome these children into their new home.

Thank YOU for your continued support, and thank you to Womack, Lewis, and Smith and 7 hills architecture + consulting for their partnership on this life changing project!

Advocates for Children is honored to have Danny R. Deems, attorney at Trotter, Deems, and King, and his wife, Tamara, serve as honorary chairmen of Graze and Raise. The annual event benefiting Advocates is being hosted Sept. 21 at Barnsley Resort and coveted tickets are available now.

https://advochild.org/graze-and-raise-fall-benefit/

Support a meaningful cause and let's work together to protect children and build strong families.

Trotter Deems & King Attorneys at Law

You are invited!

Please join us for our official ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of our new Gordon County office.

August 14th at 10a.m.

209 S. Wall St. Calhoun, GA 30701

Come meet our collaborative staff and volunteers as we celebrate the addition of Advocates to the team of outstanding nonprofits serving children and families in the Gordon County area. This office hosts professionals and volunteers working with Court-Appointed Special Advocates to guide children in foster care through the court system. In addition, our housing program in Gordon assists young people without permanent homes in obtaining and maintaining housing so they can grow in self-sufficiency and become independent adults.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Providing a meal to the residents of Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter is a great way for church groups, civic organizations and families to support the children we serve at our shelter. Don’t Cook? Don’t Worry! While we are always grateful for a nutritious home-cooked meal, our children are equally grateful for meals provided from local restaurants.

Please plan to provide 8-10 servings and check our Sign-Up Genius for updated allergy details.

Below you will find a calendar where you can sign up to provide a meal to the Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter in Cartersville.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B48ACA629A6FEC25-50456368-meal #/

"The folks who donate their time and money to help us buy school clothes and supplies are so nice to think of us. They're helping us start the school year in the best way."

- An Advocates Student

Advocates for Children's Back-to-School campaign is challenging the communities they serve in 11 counties to make returning to school an exciting time for children living in the shelter and others who come to the regional nonprofit for essential resources.

More than 15,000 children and their families rely on is annually, and your support is critical. The 24% inflation rate for school supplies over the past two years is a significant challenge for our families.

With your help, we can give a special memory to a student in need and set them on a path to success this school year!

Visit our website to see how you can donate today!
https://advochild.org/back2school/

✨✨✨ AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT! ✨✨✨
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Advocates for Children is pleased to open engaging new offices in Calhoun.

Come meet our collaborative staff and volunteers at 209 S. Wall Street for the ribbon cutting Aug. 14 at 10 a.m.

We will celebrate the addition of Advocates to the team of outstanding nonprofits serving children and families in the Gordon County area. This office hosts professionals and volunteers working with Court Appointed Special Advocates to guide children in foster care through the court system and to place unhoused young people in housing. Advocates has been working in Gordon for many years and is excited to open office in Calhoun.

STAND WITH A CHILD IN FOSTER CARE.

In 2023 CASA served 57 children in Gordon County.

Children in foster care who have a CASA volunteer are more likely to succeed in school and adjust to change. And they’re half as likely to re-enter the foster care system later. As a volunteer, you can make all the difference for a child who has experienced abuse or neglect in your community. Get involved, and change a child’s story.

We are currently in need of 110 CASA volunteers.

Learn more about the CASA program here:

https://advochild.org/casa/

These quilts will be a blessing to many families this fall and winter! Thank you for your support!

We recently donated 50 quilts to Advocates for Children. These quilts will be given to children that they serve through their many programs that provide care to children and families in North Georgia.

WIN 2 TICKETS TO AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING AT BARNSLEY RESORT FOR THE SEPT. 21st ANNUAL GRAZE AND RAISE BENEFITTING ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN. ($350 Value)
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To enter, like and share this post, then follow Advocates for Children!

A winner will be selected randomly on August 30th.

Good luck and thank you for your support!

Learn more about this event at https://advochild.org/graze-and-raise-fall-benefit/

Remember the excitement of having something new on the first day of school? Maybe it was a new outfit, backpack or supplies?

Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, we are able to provide more than just the bare necessities for the children we serve. By donating today, you can help our students excel in school, participate in extracurricular activities and empower them to chase their dreams.

EASY WAYS TO GIVE:

***Give a donation online to buy what’s needed in the right sizes:
https://advochild.org/back2school/

***Donate backpacks and school supplies
(ship from Amazon wish list or drop off at any Advocates location)
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/24M0IY3CBHEA7?ref_=wl_fv_le

***Give gift cards (mail, send e-gift card or drop off)

🌟 ✨ CONGRATULATIONS ✨ 🌟 to one of our outstanding CASA volunteers, Penny Miller.

Penny, a Gordon volunteer, won the United4Gordon Volunteer of the Year award at the United Way of Gordon County Unity Awards 2024 on June 25th.

Penny was sworn in as a CASA volunteer in Bartow County in 2015 and has been serving Gordon County for the last three years. Throughout her almost decade of service, Penny has boldly and confidently advocated for seventeen children. In 2023, Penny dedicated over 154 hours of her time and drove 765 miles to court hearings, home visits, and anywhere else a child needed her to be.

Throughout her time as a CASA, Penny has never shied away from taking the tough cases. Interacting with and advocating for children with some of the heaviest stories takes a special heart. When others on the case come and go, Penny does not waver. Once she takes on a case, she is dedicated to sticking it out and making sure the children know that she is there for them and only them.

CASA of Northwest Georgia is thankful for the commitment and selfless dedication Penny has shown throughout her many years of service.

All I saw was the emptiness in this child's eyes. She had thinning hair, huge dark circles under her eyes and her speech was barely comprehensible. She grew up in a hotel and never left the room - no interaction with others, ever.

At age 4, this was her third placement in a month, and her demeanor was untrusting. Over two years together, we had sat for many hours coloring, sharing her day, and being patient with one another. As she spoke, I struggled to comprehend her stories. Some of the memories were horrific.

One year later, this beautiful, bouncy, bright-eyed little girl with gorgeous blond hair was so excited to tell me about her first ice cream cone and she chatted on and on. My insides were giggling because this is what happens when a child has a loving, caring family who loves unconditionally.

As a CASA, the joy is revealed to us in small moments. She found her forever family.

Kim Martin
Advocates for Children/CASA Volunteer
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Learn more about how you can become a CASA volunteer by visiting our website:
https://advochild.org/casa/

Such a great morning!

Advocates successfully supported Kyle in school by providing supplies and assistance from our dynamic education coordinator at Flowering Branch Children's Shelter. He sent her this enthusiastic message:

"With you and the help of the rest of the staff, I raised my grades from 60-70 in math to 95-97 and passed with a 4.0 GPA. It was the greatest comeback in my grade history!" - Kyle, 8th Grade

With the back to school season quickly upon us, you can help give a special memory to a student in need by donating today!

Visit our website at https://advochild.org/back2school/ to see the various ways you can help a child like Kyle succeed this school year.

Advocates for Children Strengthening our community and empowering families to be free from child abuse.

***URGENT NEED***
Our children's shelter needs a minivan to transport children to schools, doctors' appointments, activities, and more.

If you can donate a safe and working minivan, it would mean so much to the children to have dependable transportation. We would love to have a later model to avoid costly/frequent repairs, and a second row of captain's chairs would help our children get in and out better. Please call our President, Rachel Castillo, at 770-387-1143 x 203 or email [email protected].

We are hoping someone responds!

📘📓📒 GIVE A SPECIAL MEMORY TO A STUDENT IN NEED ✏️ 🖋🖍

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Remember the first day of school and the excitement of a new outfit, book bag and school supplies? Something new for school is virtually expected, yet many children won’t have what they need as they return to the classroom. They have no memories of the joy of a new item for school, yet you can change that.

Advocates is challenging the area communities they serve in 11 counties to make returning to school an exciting time for children living in the shelter and others who come to the regional nonprofit for essential resources. More than 15,000 children and their families rely on Advocates annually, and donor support is critical. The 24% inflation rate for school supplies over the past two years is a significant challenge.

Help us provide much needed school supplies to children in our community!

Visit us at https://advochild.org/back2school/ to see how you can get involved.

The Advocates board recently sponsored a financial planning and giving workshop. In a move to expand diversity in giving, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Pastor John Lampley and Glenn Merritt of Merritt Financial - Raymond James worked together to plan the event. Both men share a love and passion for Advocates for Children and encourage others to invest in the nonprofit’s strong programming.

We are so grateful for the support of these donors, and for each and every person that helps advance the mission of Advocates!

Protect children, empower families, and strengthen communities.

Thank you!!!

🏠 Exciting Update from Newman House! 🌟

Things are taking shape at Newman House! 🛠️ We're thrilled to announce that the framing has been completed on the first floor of our new home. This two-story house will feature 14 bedrooms, providing a safe and loving environment for children and youth aged 7-21.

Every day brings us closer to our goal, and we couldn't be more excited to welcome these children home!

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make progress towards opening our doors.

Thank YOU for your continued support, and thank you to Womack, Lewis, and Smith and 7 hills architecture + consulting for their partnership on this life changing project! 🌈❤️

Advocates has high hopes for our teens moving into Newman House this winter. The central Cartersville location provides ample employment, community involvement and educational opportunities to offer a well-rounded lifestyle. Cartersville High School, a top-ranked public high school, and Georgia Highlands College, part of the University System of Georgia, are less than 5 miles away from the Newman House.

***URGENT NEED***

Our children's shelter needs a minivan to transport children to schools, doctors' appointments, activities, and more.

If you can donate a safe and working minivan, it would mean so much to the children to have dependable transportation. We would love to have a later model to avoid costly/frequent repairs, and a second row of captain's chairs would help our children get in and out better. Please call our President, Rachel Castillo, at 770-387-1143 x 203 or email [email protected].

We are hoping someone responds!

In 2023 CASA served 57 children in Gordon County.

There are currently 104 children in foster care in Gordon. 39 of those children are in need of a Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Right now we have 17 active volunteers and are in need of more! If you are interested in becoming a CASA volunteer, we will be holding our next training session beginning September 10th.

Learn more about the CASA program here:

https://advochild.org/casa/

From our family to yours, happy 4th of July!

On a day that brings family and friends together, we are reminded of the importance of our mission... protecting children, empowering families, and strengthening communities in Northwest Georgia. Thank you for your support!

The Advocates team had a great time in Downtown Cartersville today participating in the tour. The Budweiser Clydesdale horses were stunning to see in person!

Since 2007, Folds of Honor has provided life-changing scholarships to the spouses and children of America’s fallen or disabled military and to families of America’s first responders.