The Center for Family Resources

Today's the day! Join us at our VOLUNTEEER ORIENTATION from 1 - 2:30 p.m.!

Volunteer: Share Your Heart. Sign up to volunteer at The Center for Family Resources at https://bit.ly/3RU0Q2d

The Center for Family Resources and our Family Cupboard Choice Pantry make a difference in the lives of Cobb County children and families who face homelessness. To make a big impact, we rely on the dedicated support of volunteers like you!

We hope you join us this month for our Volunteer Orientation on TODAY, July 17, 2024, at 400 Franklin Gateway SE in Marietta from 1:00-2:30 p.m.

This event is for anyone who wants to volunteer with The Center for Family Resources. Training for The Family Cupboard is for anyone who would like to be hands-on with assisting clients in our new choice food pantry.

To sign up or learn more, visit https://bit.ly/3RU0Q2d
To learn more about The Center for Family Resources, visit www.thecfr.org

We hope you share your heart with us!

We hope to see you TODAY at our Volunteer Orientation!

Cobb County Senior Services - CCSS Cobb Young Professionals East Cobb Community
Downtown Kennesaw Connections

When you donate to The Center for Family Resources, you share your heart with people right here in Cobb County.

The CFR helps prevent homelessness for children and families. The stories families tell us are about resiliency, determination, and hope. To help us continue to impact the lives of children and families, please donate at this link: bit.ly/3XWqqre

To learn more about The Center for Family Resources and ways to volunteer, visit www.thecfr.org.

The Center for Family Resources - Giveffect We are a Cobb County-based organization that works exclusively to serve local children and their families that are either homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. We provide tailored, long term supportive services to our clients.  Our vision is for children and their families to experience i...

Members of our team were happy to meet families at the farmers market this week. We hope you to see you at The Center for Family Resources table next week on July 16!

Cobb & Douglas Public Health Cobb County Government
City of Austell

Volunteer: Share Your Heart.

Sign up to volunteer at The Center for Family Resources at https://bit.ly/3RU0Q2d

The Center for Family Resources and our Family Cupboard Choice Pantry make a difference in the lives of Cobb County children and families who face homelessness. To make a big impact, we rely on the dedicated support of volunteers like you!

We hope you join us this month for our Volunteer Orientation on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, at 400 Franklin Gateway SE in Marietta from 1:00-2:30 p.m.

This event is for anyone who wants to volunteer with The Center for Family Resources. Training for The Family Cupboard is for anyone who would like to be hands-on with assisting clients in our new choice food pantry.

To sign up or learn more, visit https://bit.ly/3RU0Q2d
To learn more about The Center for Family Resources, visit www.thecfr.org

We hope you share your heart with us!

Look who is in the news! We are proud of the work we do here at The Center for Family Resources.

To learn more, to donate, or to volunteer to support our efforts, please visit www.thecfr.org.

Report: Center for Family Resources served 1,400 plus families in 2023 The Marietta-based Center for Family Resources received an average of 1,160 phone calls per month from people seeking services, a 42% increase from 2022. Of those calls, 19% came from

Check out these dates and times for the Farmer's Market and Resource Fair hosted by Georgia WIC Services and Cobb & Douglas Public Health! Please stop by and visit for The Center for Family Resources table at these events!

Cobb & Douglas Public Health Cobb County Government

TEEN REMINDS COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHY HELPING FAMILIES MATTERS

Breaking through tears, a Cobb County teenager reminded a room full of attendees at The Center for Family Resources (CFR) Client Achievement Awards night how the struggles parents face can impact—sometimes in a positive way—their own children.

“The last two or three years have been hard,” she said. “But I just want the parents in this room to know—your children see you…. Because of what we have gone through, I appreciate life and my mom so much more.”

The CFR, a Cobb County-based not-for-profit that helps prevent homelessness for children and families, gave out a total of 80 certificates for successful completion of the agency’s programs and services between January-June of 2024.

Among those successes includes the following:
· 15 households obtained permanent housing.
· Eight individuals obtained new employment.
· Five individuals who advanced in employment/promotion.
· Five individuals who were recognized saving through The CFR’s Savings Incentive program; and
· Five individuals recognized for successful completion of a program.

The CFR’s Board Member Granville Freeman spoke to the award recipients about their accomplishments. “We celebrate your achievements, your resilience, and your unwavering strength in the face of challenges,” he said. “Strength isn't always loud or visible; sometimes, it's the quiet determination to keep moving forward when everything seems to be falling apart. It's the ability to wake up each morning and face the day with courage, even when the path ahead is uncertain.”

He continued, “In times of transition, the support of a community is invaluable. The CFR is more than just a provider of services; it’s a community that stands beside you, ready to offer a helping hand. We all need support systems to lean on, especially during challenging times. Don't hesitate to reach out, connect, and draw strength from those around you.”

For The CFR’s CEO Melanie Kagan, the teen’s comments were a reminder of why the agency has been helping families in Cobb County for more than 60 years. “This is why we do this,” she said. “She just captured our whole mission. We do this so that children don’t have to go through these traumas and so that we can set a stage to make things different. We cannot change what happened in the past, but when kids see a parent struggle and work through it with help from community, it sets a stage for resilience and positive change.”

Photos: The CFR Board Member Granville Freeman speaking to group
The CFR CEO Melanie Kagan (left) speaking with The CFR Board Member Monique Jenkins

Volunteer: Share Your Heart.

The Center for Family Resources and our Family Cupboard Choice Pantry make a difference in the lives of Cobb County children and families who face homelessness. To make a big impact, we rely on the dedicated support of volunteers like you!

We hope you join us this month for our Volunteer Orientation on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, at 400 Franklin Gateway SE in Marietta from 1:00-2:30 p.m.

This event is for anyone who wants to volunteer with The Center for Family Resources. Training for The Family Cupboard is for anyone who would like to be hands-on with assisting clients in our new choice food pantry.

To sign up or learn more, visit https://bit.ly/3RU0Q2d

To learn more about The Center for Family Resources, visit www.thecfr.org

We hope you share your heart with us!

The Center for Family Resources (CFR) recently released its 2023 Annual Report, which outlines the not-for-profit’s continued commitment to homeless families and those at risk of homelessness in Cobb County. Serving more than 1,400 families through its homeless prevention and housing programs, food pantry and Employee Financial Assistance Program, The CFR remains committed to its 64-year history of providing much-needed services to Cobb County residents.

Highlights of the report include the average 1,160 phone calls received each month from people seeking services. In 2023, 19 percent of phone calls to The CFR were people seeking shelter and 51 percent were families seeking rental assistance.

“For the people reaching out to us, housing instability continues to be their greatest challenge,” says CEO Melanie Kagan. In 2023, The CFR served 52 families in short-term housing (108 children) and 61 families (219 children) in its permanent housing programs.

Kagan says food insecurity also continues to be a challenge for families in Cobb County. Last year, The CFR distributed more than 50,000 pounds of food, serving more than 1,000 children through its food pantry. In 2023, The CFR converted the food pantry to a Choice Pantry, which is set up like a grocery store and allows families to have the dignity of choosing from a variety of healthy food options. Looking forward, The CFR’s largest community food drive—Thanks for Giving—is once again ramping up for this fall.

“In 2023, our focus was to position The Center for Family Resources to better meet the needs of our community,” says CEO Melanie Kagan. “Too many children in our Cobb community face housing insecurity—living in motels, cars, friends' or relatives' houses—anywhere but a stable place to call home. These are more than statistics; they are a daily representation of a challenging reality for children and their families.”

The CFR’s 2023 annual report is available on The CFR website at www.thecfr.org or here at https://heyzine.com/flip-book/0afa274216.html

The CFR is funded through community engagement, grants and government contracts, with 23 percent of funds coming from fundraising events and in-kind donations. Individual and corporate donations, volunteers, and food donations are always needed. To donate or volunteer, please contact [email protected].

2023 Annual Report | PDF to Flipbook Created with the Heyzine flipbook maker

Thank you to Amie Burke, KIDS CARE, and Unplugged Adventures who generously donated children's books to our Family Cupboard Choice Pantry! We greatly appreciate the donation and the partnership! The Center for Family Resources book program allows children to enjoy a book during their pantry experience and take it home for keeps.

We are so grateful that KIDS CARE will be completing the next bookbag drive this year, and they're already collecting items for The CFR throughout this month and next. Thank you!



Unplugged Adventures, LLC KIDS CARE

For more than 60 years The Center for Family Resources has been helping families in Cobb County who find themselves facing homelessness.

With both prevention and housing programs, as well as a Family Cupboard Choice Pantry, The CFR has made a difference in thousands of lives. To donate and help us continue the important work we do, please visit www.thecfr.org.

Thank you to County Commissioner Jerica Richardson for organizing multiple food drives for The Family Cupboard Choice Pantry, resulting in the incredible collection of over 500 pounds of food. Your dedication and support make a meaningful difference in our community. Thank you!

We are very excited for the CFR 2024 Gala - A Tour of Italy, to raise critical funds to support our mission! We invite you to support our event as a gala sponsor. Learn more and download our Sponsor Packet here: https://ow.ly/CB4o50Qn8ki

🌟 Calling all volunteers! We are excited to invite you to one of our upcoming volunteer orientation and The Family Cupboard training sessions starting in January. The CFR is committed to creating more volunteer opportunities in 2024 and we need your help. As part of our mission to reduce childhood homelessness, we launched a choice pantry initiative aimed at moving families to food security and this initiative needs a large number of volunteers as the program grows each week. Make an impact, and support your community! 🤝 Learn more: https://ow.ly/Wuw850QnV5k

Wishing you a Happy New Year from the Center For Family Resources! 🎆We're thrilled for what 2024 holds and grateful for the opportunity to continue supporting the Cobb County Community. Here's to a year filled with growth and unwavering support!

Check out our CEO Melanie Kagan's year-end message covering childhood homelessness statistics and her firsthand experiences with it. As well as the CFR’s impact, accomplishments and gratitude from this past year. Learn more: https://ow.ly/4FH450QmzUB

Proud to support so many Cobb County children and families in need this Holiday Season! Learn more in this recent MDJ Article:

A Home for Christmas: Local Organizations Connect Cobb Families to Housing MARIETTA — After two years of instability, one Cobb family found their permanent home this Christmas.