2012 is bringing much change to Children First… most of it wonderful , but some bittersweet.  We are saddened to announce that our Executive Director, Christian Orobello will be transitioning out of the Executive Director position here at Children First.  We wish him and his family all the best as they move north to Massachusetts to be closer to family and to start a new chapter in their lives.  We are also excited about the future of Children First as, over the next month, we will be transitioning to a new Executive Director and a new era for our agency.  Christian has dedicated the past 6 years to seeing Children First grow from just the Athens-Oconee CASA program to a multi-program agency to serve the many needs of children and families in our community.  Under Christian’s direction, Children First has developed and expanded the Family Time, SPARC, Guardians for Children, and SafeCare programs.  We have moved from a 2 room office to our new home at the Pope Street Cottage.  Christian has been a driving force for change, working to ensure that every child has a safe home. We hope you will join us in both wishing him a fond farewell, as well as looking forward to the exciting next step for Children First.

We are having a going away party for Christian on Wednesday, Feb.8 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. Find out more on our EVENTS page. 

The new season arrives with changes and growth at our organization. This spring, we are excited to announce the arrival of four new interns. They will be helping us with volunteer recruitment, training, program promotion and event planning through this semester. 

Aaron LaGarde    CASA Recruitment and Leadership Intern

Aaron is a 5th year Communication Studies Major at the University of Georgia. During his tenure at UGA, he has been a member of the UGA Track & Field team, the Black Theatrical Ensemble, and most recently the Leadership & Service program. For the spring of 2012, Aaron will be the Recruitment and Leadership Intern helping to promote and increase awareness to the CASA program.  

Megan Sullivan      CASA Intern

Megan is a first year MSW in the Community Empowerment and Program Development Track. While working with a small NGO in West Africa, she identified a passion for creating and implementing community based initiatives, which led her to UGA's school of social work.  Megan has joined Athens-Oconee CASA as an intern and looks forward to serving local families and children in crisis.

Tochuku Ikediowu      Children First Intern

Tochuku is obtaining her Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Georgia. She earned a Bachelors of Science Degree majoring in Psychology and a Bachelors Degree in Health Promotion and Behavior also at UGA.  Tochuku works at Children First to develop a new transitional living facility that prepares children who have aged out of the foster system to be productive, independent young adults.  After completing her Master’s Degree, she would like to work for the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Fay Zifei Chen    Public Relations and Social Media Intern

Fay is pursuing her master’s degree in Public Relations at the University of Georgia. She has a bachelor’s degree in China majoring in English and Business Administration. While working as a volunteer in Ukraine for children in summer camps and orphanages, she developed her passion to help children who suffer from family crisis and to bring their smiles back. Fay joined Children First as the Public Relations and Social Media Intern to manage social media accounts and to assist Mary with event promotion.

I am sitting in my office on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon thinking about the upcoming holiday season.  I will go ahead and say it: I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas.  And to be honest... it has leaned heavily on the hate side for most of my life.  I have started coming around, mostly due to the influence of my 17 year old who is IN LOVE with Christmas.  Seeing the holidays through her eyes and the joy she feels at the coming of the season has really opened me up to a whole new understanding of the season.

Christmas at my house growing up was certainly not the Hallmark Special fairy tale idealized in Christmas cards and Toys R Us commercials.  It was often more like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but with less Christmas lights and more drinking.  However, my hectic, weird, funny, loving family came together to celebrate the season.  We came together to celebrate our hectic, weird, funny, loving selves.  We came together to give thanks for one another, to share joy and gifts, and - yes - a few stinging insults or angry tirades, but we came together.  Being together for the holiday season was more important than past disagreements, more important than sibling rivalries or cynicism or who forgot whose birthday and who is at fault for this or that traumatic childhood event.  Looking back now, I can see that the wonderful and the crazy - the joyfulness and the angry tears - are all a part of what makes my family "my family".  It's who we are, and it has made me who I am today.

Many of the families with whom we work at Children First may not be able to come together this holiday season.  They have been separated by abuse, neglect, substance abuse, divorce, homelessness... They, like my family, are not Hallmark Special fairy tales.  .  Every family has joys and successes, as well as some hurt and some failures.  My family had the chance to come together and celebrate the joy and acknowledge the hurt.   The families with whom we work may not have this opportunity.


My hopes and prayers are with these families this season.  May they find a way to celebrate the joys and successes, acknowledge the hurt, and begin to heal.  May they come to accept the wonderful, amazing parts of their family as well as the sad.  May they find that, though our families make us who we are, we are all bigger than the past. We are all capable of love and hope.

We are all broken.  May the holiday season make from our pieces a work of art.

Mary

October has been a month of celebration, giving, and accomplishments. As fall settled in, Children First did everything but take a break. Let’s look back at some of our major events!

On October 5, nine lovely ladies completed their CASA training and officially became accredited CASA volunteers. Children First held the swearing in ceremony where friends and family gathered to celebrate the newest class or graduates. Emmanual Episcopal Church sponsored this season’s class, and Children First appreciates their support! Congratulations ladies!

In the spirit of celebration, University of Georgia sorority Kappa Alpha Theta organized a festive fall carnival on behalf of Athens-Oconee CASA of Children First. The young ladies turned their front lawn into a carnival complete with face painting, cotton candy, and dunking booths. With charged admission and donations, Kappa Alpha Theta raised an impressive $5,000 for the organization. All Proceeds went to Athens-Oconee CASA. Children First is filled with gratitude! 

Also in the carnival spirit, the Department of Family and Child Services (DFCS) coordinated a successful Halloween celebration. With the help of Children First and AMSA volunteers, the carnival brought pumpkin bowling, face painting, and countless smiles to children of the Athens area.

Finally, in the spirit of giving… Children First wants to acknowledge and thank Kids II for their bountiful donations of childcare necessities.  The donations will help families in crisis have safe, neutral, supportive visits - giving them time to heal and grow.

As Children First continues to grow, so does our staff. The increased workload creates a unique opportunity to give local college students the chance to receive real life experience in a non-profit organization. We are pleased to announce the arrival of four interns this semester. Ranging in studies of social work to public relations, we are excited about the insight and dedication our newest staff members are bringing to the table. Let’s meet our interns! 

·      Rebeka Geer, CASA Social Media/PR Intern

Rebeka is a junior at the University of Georgia, pursuing a degree in public relations with a certificate in service leadership. Having spent a portion of her childhood in foster care, she understands the hardships that abused and neglected children face, and is passionate about giving them a voice. Last Christmas, she volunteered in an orphanage in Tanzania and she plans on joining the Peace Corps after college graduation. In the future, she hopes to use her first-hand experience within the child welfare system as a tool to advocate for children rights. 

·      Devin McLeod, Children First Program Intern

Devin received his Bachelor of Arts at Kennesaw State University in modern language and culture with a major in Spanish and a minor in Italian. He is working on his Master in Social Work at Kennesaw State with a concentration in family and children. He interns for CASA, Family Time Visitation, and SPARC. 

·      Rob Turner, Family Time Intern

Rob is from Cochran, Ga. He is obtaining his bachelor’s degree with a focus in social work at the University of Georgia. He wants to work with children and their families after getting his master’s degree in social work. He is currently working with Virginia at Family Time. His tasks include observing visitations and assisting in the day-to-day operations in the office.

·      Naria Williams, Social Media/PR Intern
Naria is a senior at the University of Georgia majoring in public relations and minoring in sociology. Set to graduate in May, she is interested in possibly pursuing a future in non-profit public relations. Last summer, she studied abroad in South Africa where she thoroughly enjoyed studying service learning and leadership. As the social media intern, she works closely with Mary Joyce updating social media and     assisting with event planning. 

Together Everyone Achieves More

Bess and Brady Allen, both retired educators, have been CASA volunteers since February of last year. "We have worked with these children for years in classrooms and programs but we never had a way to help their home situations. Now we can help change circumstances and advocate for what is in the best interest of the children."  The pair is currently on their third case with CASA.

On working as a pair, Bess and Brady say that they benefit from each others strengths. One is more analytical, takes verbatim notes, and is better at reading body language while the other tends to be more global in thinking, feeling out situations and noticing peoples interactions. Together they do a lot of creative problem solving. Having someone to bounce ideas off of allows them to dig deeper into situations and ultimately provides more support to the children and families they serve. 

On a case that led them to the Atlanta Burn Center Bess and Brady were able to take advantage of their extra man power. While one was able to hold interviews, the other went on to obtain medical records to make sure nothing had slipped through the cracks for the child they were advocating for. They've been able to keep each other on top of their cases, like the time they had a child that was in need of surgery for a cleft palet. They kept on the case until their efforts were rewarded and the little girl was able to have the surgery she needed!

Their advice for CASAs is to start gathering facts as a team and keep in close touch with your supervisor.

"We are helping save the lives of children who have been victimized"

If you're interested in advocating for a child please contact mary@childrenfirst-inc.org for more information.

You can raise money for Children's first just by switching your search engine!

It's easy ... every time you search the Internet at GoodSearch.com, Children First earns money to help the children and families we serve. The more you search, the more you raise! Search engines generate billions of dollars each year through advertisements and Goodsearch.com has found a way to give back. Not to mention, it's powered by Yahoo so you'll still receive high quality search results.

Go to Goodsearch.com >Where it says, "Who do you GoodSearch for" add: CASA - Athens Oconee  as your charity > enter your search > get great results while doing a good deed! 

For easiest access to Good Search, set it as your homepage or add a toolbar to your browser! 

Also, if you shop online - head to the Goodshop section of Goodsearch.com. By simply selecting the store that you'd like to shop on from this website, and adding that you shop for CASA - Athens Oconee, 3% of your purchase will be donated back to Children First!

Children First is honored to be the recipient of Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation's 2011 Outstanding Rehabilitation Award!

The award ceremony was held at the University of Georgia Fine Arts Theatre (a 2010 award winner) this past Monday. Our Pope Street Cottage was recognized for the reconstruction and restoration of it's original Georgian floor plan. We are proud that Children First can continue to be a place that the families in our programs can feel at home. 

Rehabilitation is defined as: “The act or process of returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those features of the property which are significant to its historical, architectural, and cultural values.”

You can see photos and commentary on the Pope Street Cottage transformation on the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation Facebook page HERE

"District Attorney Robert James and Tax Commissioner Claudia Lawson are partnering to crack down on parents who have failed to pay child support for more than 60 days by revoking their license plates." Parents will first be given a warning, but if they continue not to pay their child support they will loose their right to drive.
You can read the full article here.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this new policy!