by Rebecca Glaze
At Prevent Child Abuse Habersham, Inc. Family Resource Center of Northeast Georgia (FRC), we advocate for children in a variety of ways through holistic family approaches. Our services include parent education, community workshops, in-home visitation services, supervised family visitation, and free counseling sessions for individuals who have experienced childhood trauma.
Our organization’s mission is to strengthen families and nurture children by providing services that meet families where they are and encourage them to succeed. FRC has been dedicated to the prevention of child abuse in our area for over 20 years, because we know how important this issue is in our community.
I began my journey at FRC at the end of 2020 and, since then, I have seen families in our region with great needs met with kindness, compassion, and determination by our incredible staff dedicated to strengthening our community. Through the facilitation of our services, we have experienced families reunited, mothers and fathers implementing positive parenting techniques learned from FRC classes, and clients receiving life-changing therapy during some of the most difficult times in their lives.
As someone who was born and raised in Northeast Georgia, I have had the privilege to see our beautiful region grow in inspiring ways. Our community has shown time after time the compassion and resiliency that lies within our region. With this in mind, we must continue to remember those most vulnerable in our society – children. Our children are our future and we must invest in those children with great needs because they will be the future of this beautiful region. What we as a society pour into our children, we, too, will receive back as they grow and re-invest in the communities that encouraged them.
April is Prevent Child Abuse Awareness Month and we would like to invite you to be part of our efforts to prevent child abuse in Northeast Georgia. FRC is currently promoting our annual 100 Strong Campaign where we ask 100 members of our region to donate $100 towards the services and programs FRC provides to families throughout our five-county region. We are asking our community members to come together and advocate for high-risk children and families by supporting programs already in place that educate, empower, and encourage a strong foundation.
These funds are utilized for the direct support of high-risk children and families in Habersham, Stephens, Banks, White, and Rabun counties. COVID-19 greatly impacted our ability to fundraise, and as we move forward from those repercussions, we rely on the generosity and dedication of those in our community committed to our mission.
In response to the question of what it means to be an advocate for children, I believe the answer lies somewhere in how we support one another and invest in the foundational pillars of our community. Support and investment in our mission may come in many forms – spreading awareness, educating others, volunteering, donating, etc. – and each of these are greatly appreciated and imperative to the continuation of FRC’s programs.
Thank you for your continued support of FRC and our mission to strengthen families and nurture children. If you or someone you know is suffering from child abuse, please call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. To report child abuse, please call 1-855-422-4453.
To donate, visit https://frcofneg.org/how-to-give. Donated items can be dropped off by appointment or mailed to our local Family Resource Center located at 122 North Laurel Drive, Clarkesville, GA 30523.
Rebecca Glaze is the Director of Operations of the Family Resource Center of Northeast Georgia. Email her at rebecca@familyresourcecenterneg.org