HOLCOMB
Candace Holcomb, formerly a member on the board of Family Resource Center (FRC) took the reins as director of the Habersham County United Way a week ago.
United Way, an international network of local nonprofits, serves as a foundational resource for the 22 nonprofit organizations in Habersham County. Billy Boyd retired as director after seven years earlier in 2021.
Holcomb knows just how vital the organization is to efforts to aid nonprofit groups that benefit from United Way, which include the local 4-H club, Boy Scouts of Northeast Georgia Council, Circle of Hope, Children’s Center of Hope and Healing, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, Grace Gate, Northeast Georgia CASA and multiple city libraries in Habersham County.
“Through our member agencies we’ve helped provide services to thousands of people in Habersham County,” Holcomb said. “No other organization helps so many people in so many different ways.”
Since becoming director, Holcomb said she seeks to expand the organization’s influence supporting local nonprofits.
“Of course I want to grow with our agencies,” Holcomb said. “I want to be able to give more. I want to continue to give what we are giving, and then of course increase that [as much] as we can.”
Now, in her first week in the position, the first phases of Holcomb’s strategy for expanding United Way’s reach will be based on forming closer partnerships and enhancing her understanding of their needs.
“I look forward to meeting all the executive directors and looking deeper into what they do,” Holcomb said. “I’ll be able to meet with each [director] and find out exactly what their needs are, and what they expect from United Way.”
During Holcomb’s time on the board of FRC, Holcomb was highly involved with planning and coordination of the center’s various events and fundraising efforts.
“I learned a lot about what Family Resource Center does in outreach, and it’s amazing the things they’re doing,” Holcomb said, adding that the programs FRC has adopted over the last two years she was on the board gave her a deeper insight into the community and its needs.
“Becoming a board member opened my eyes to exactly what they do and the programs they offer,” Holcomb said.
That experience will now give Holcomb a clearer vision as she moves to strengthen partnerships and improve the community.
Much of United Way’s funding, according to Holcomb, is gained through fundraising, including an annual golf tournament and a clay shooting event set to take place next Saturday, Nov. 20.
Funds raised by United Way, Holcomb said, stay within the community.
“Dollars raised by United Way are given to agencies directly benefiting our community,” Holcomb said. “Funds raised do go back to this community [in Habersham]. Sometimes I think that’s a question [people have], and they do go back to the Habersham community.”
Financial donations are not the only means at United Way’s disposal in terms of providing support to the community. She said the organization also seeks to boost the number of volunteers in Habersham County, providing greater human resources to nonprofits that are often underfunded. “Volunteers are at the heart of United Way. There are numerous opportunities to serve if volunteers want to serve within the [region’s] 22 agency partners,” Holcomb said. “There’s different ways to help and serve.”
Holcomb went on to describe the first week in the director position as a learning process.
“Right now I am just learning the ropes of how the office works,” Holcomb said. “I am working on going out into the community now. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to do more by going out and meeting some of these agency executive directors and presidents so that I can learn more about the agencies I don’t know as much about yet.”
“The plan is for me to get out into the community and look for more fundraising options and possibilities, and then really dig in and learn what the needs are,” Holcomb added. “If people want to learn more about it, come by and see us.”