Nurturing Children & Families

Adult mentors to 1300 children in the Buddy Program in 40 schools in the Dalton, Murray and Whitfield school systems. Over 43,000 volunteer hours were spent one-on-one with boys and girls in the schools. Self-esteem skills and other skills necessary to enrich their lives were worked on by volunteer Big Buddies and Little Buddies.

The community-based BIG program served over 85 matches in two counties; these matches spent time in the community being friends. Over 12,000 hours of volunteer time went into making these friendships productive.

More than 35 children were served in the Dawnville Buddy Bunch Program. This special program serves children waiting to be matched as a Buddy. We also served a small group of faith-based matches from Hopewell Baptist Church.

Children waiting for adult mentors received monthly services. Buddy matches in schools had two parties. Bigs and Littles had activities on a regular basis, including: baseball game, field day, fall festival, pancake breakfast, movie night, holiday party, and other recreational and educational events.

712 youth and teens participated in after-school activities such as: Power Hour, which is homework assistance that helps our youth to improve in their academics; Career Launch is a program that assesses skills and interests, explores careers, and helps with sound educational decisions; Money Matters, which promotes financial responsibility and independence among teens by building their basic money management skills; and Project Learn, which reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school during the hours they spend at the club. Also accomplished was the start-up for a Boys and Girls Club program in Murray County

4,149 youth each week with a Scouting program of Character Development, Citizen Training, and Character Education;

445 Adult Mentors with Adult Leader Training, Facility and Program resources, and Youth Protection training opportunities;

Over 1,400 Families with educational resources to combat drug, and sexual abuse; and

1,908 youth and family members with weekend family camping activities.

4616 individuals with intensive school and home-based services;

8109 people with parent education and support opportunities;

Residential care for 18 teen moms and their children (35 total);

Parenting education and support to 977 new parents at Hamilton Medical Center;

Therapeutic camp for 36 children who were victims of sexual abuse;

Camp for 25 at-risk teens, focusing on goal setting, conflict resolution, & refusal skills; and

Books for 8,232 children.

1276 unduplicated members, 45 Educational Programs per month, 8 competitions, 9 recreational activities, and 30 camp scholarships.

Daycare for 125 children of working mothers and students in high school and college. Our policy is that the mother has to work or go to school full-time. Our tuition ranges from $5 to $100 per week based on the parents’ ability to pay.

1040 area girls with opportunities to participate in skill-enhancing programming that provided safe, educational activities;

376 area adult volunteers with convenient training to learn to effectively teach and lead girls;

Financial assistance to underserved Whitfield/Murray County girls to help underwrite the cost of joining Girl Scouts;

25 new troop and leader kits to volunteers in Whitfield/Murray Counties;

130 girls attended New Frontiers, and 60 girls attended Twilight day-camps; and

Dalton Volunteer Service Center continues to provide support to area constituents and serves as an accessible site for Girl Scout training, meetings, materials, supplies and information.

The community with a nationally accredited and a Center of Distinction agency that provided high-quality child care to 218 children ages 15 month to 5 years of age. The center is committed to addressing the diverse needs of the children and families enrolled. Emphasis is on active parental involvement through monthly family meetings and events, as well as parent-educator conferences. Also, center has on-going, effective professional development for the educators that are employed.

Meeting Basic Needs

Basic needs for 110 victims of house fires;

Disaster Services training for 78;

Health and Safety training for 4577;

Food for 181 individuals;

Emergency communications to 84 members of the Armed Forces and their families;

Support for 300 Red Cross Volunteers at Hamilton Medical Center;

Rehab for city and county fire departments at fire scenes, chemical spills, plane crash and other incidences; and

Informational materials, handouts and brochures for safe kids (3200), health and safety (800) and disaster (1600).

33 military families with emergency communication services and hardship loans;

800 volunteer hours;

171 individuals with shelter, food and clothing for disaster relief;

250 individuals with community disaster education materials;

6955 individuals served from the Chapter food bank;

2479 individuals with assistance at the referral center;

290 People gave the gift of life by donating blood; and

1225 individuals received Health and Safety courses and lifesaving information and materials.

151 women and 147 of their children with 6,452 bed nights of shelter (at the agency);

723 women, 1,020 of their children, and 29 men with non-residential services;

1,421 bed nights to 47 children in the children’s crisis shelter;

2,550 calls to crisis line;

304 completed petitions for protective orders;

7,025 referrals; and the

RESOLV project provided services to 256 individuals/100 completions.

7,747 individuals with food, housing, clothing, furniture, prescriptions, direct financial assistance;

381 opportunities to 176 youth, adults, and seniors to participate in fellowship, education and character development activities;

67 youth (ages 7-14) with a six week summer music camp;

31 youth with camp activities in Jasper, GA; and

2,308 individuals with food and toys at Christmas.

Supporting Health & Independence

5,182 hours of respite care to 67 families and

65 visits to the Caring Closet

49 clients with services in Whitfield and Murray counties (includes physician, nursing and social services);

129 outpatient physician visits;

7 inpatient surgeries;

22 outpatient diagnostic procedures;

70 inpatient hospital days;

4 family meals; and

2 gas vouchers.

120 clients with 10,401 bed nights with a residential, long-term structured and supportive living environment - providing food, counseling, employment assistance, and collaboration with community agencies to aid them in their recovery

A meeting place for 12-step meetings with 2-3 meetings per day .

Educational materials, relapse prevention education and family education groups.

66 people with day habilitation and day support services;

14 people with supported employment;

Community-integration activities, transportation, music therapy, and computer lab activities.

290 people with emergency medication assistance;

310 clients and their families with lifestyle counseling;

26 children with camp scholarships;

5 families with Christmas assistance;

3 families and 3 seniors with Thanksgiving baskets;

900 people with head trauma prevention program;

3987 people with community outreach and education;

311 people with information and referral;

Seizure camp for 42 children at Camp Lakewood;

Financial assistance for 8 people’s initial visits to a neurologist; and

Seizure and recognition to 813 workplace employees and/or students.

40,442 meals delivered to 488 home bound elderly.

2352 financially-assisted services to 344 individuals (from infants to the elderly) with communicative impairment in order to improve their quality of life. United Way’s allocation funded 41% of the amount needed to provide these services.

Services to 34 adults with developmental disabilities (services included transportation to community outings, job sites, and volunteer opportunities);

Activities such as award dinners for Supported Employment and Work Activity participants; and

Participation in Day Habilitation and Work Activity programs through the facility based program.