Lumpkin County Family Connection Provides Pathways to Success for All Families
Print This PostBy Diana St. Lifer
Joshua Gabriel never takes for granted the simple routine of walking his daughter, Sephira, into school. Gabriel had a partial leg amputation after being diagnosed with diabetes and then MERSA, a staph infection caused by a type of bacteria that’s resistant to antibiotics.
“It didn’t take long to get my diabetes under control, but the MERSA wouldn’t go away,” said Gabriel, who had worked in construction for two years when he was diagnosed in 2017 and spent the next three years battling the infection.
“It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that my leg was gone, and it took a toll on my family,” said Gabriel, who could no longer work in construction and had no health insurance. Sephira’s school referred the family to Patricia Jarvis, family advocate for Lumpkin County School’s Family Advocacy Program through Lumpkin County Family Connection.
“They needed help with rental assistance, bills, clothing, and food—and we were able to help with all that,” said Jarvis.
Brigette Barker, director of Lumpkin Family Connection, said a recent community assessment conducted by the Collaborative revealed clear opportunity deficits. “We know transportation and affordable, humane housing are huge burdens for families—but mental health, underemployment, food insecurity, and poor health are also large concerns,” said Barker.
Hundreds of families like Gabriel’s have received life-changing support from Lumpkin County Family Connection—one of 12 Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives participating in Georgia Family Connection Partnership’s (GaFCP) Family Support Cohort.
The Collaborative runs a comprehensive Student Outreach Center where students and families can go for support, resources, essential items, training and education, and social activities.
The Center offers three pathways of assistance: General Services, Career Services, and Family Development. A large student services area is surrounded by offices for a mental health counselor, two school counselors, school social worker, family advocate, parent involvement specialist, nurse, and Lumpkin County Family Connection.
When the Student Outreach Center was developed in 2015, the rate of children with a substantiated incident of neglect (per 1,000) was 17.0, double the stage average of 8.1. In 2022, Lumpkin’s rate was 1.3—marking a 92% decrease. “We feel strongly that the center was instrumental in the steady decline of neglect rates in Lumpkin and celebrate it falling below the state average today,” said Barker.
The Center’s family advocate, along with those located at each of the elementary schools, are essential to this work in this rural community where transportation is a barrier for families.
The Power of Partnerships
Jarvis encouraged the Gabriel family to participate in parenting and life skills classes and referred them to Community Helping Place, one of the Collaborative’s biggest family support strategy partners.
The nonprofit organization, located in Dahlonega, offers free medical and dental clinics, a food pantry, emergency financial assistance, and referral support services.
Community Helping Place created the Family Wellness Initiative in 2023 thanks to a $30,000 Georgia State of Hope Grant, working closely with the most vulnerable families facing complex issues such as poverty, trauma, grief, substance abuse, mental illness, and physical disabilities.
Families are stabilized and strengthened by engaging with a case management team, providers, and partners—allowing streamlined access to healthy food, transportation, and other essential resources.
“The Family Wellness Initiative is an intensive case management model where we assess families, write a success plan, put appropriate interventions in place, and help them achieve their goals,” said Melissa Line, executive director of Community Helping Place. “Families attend four workshops each year where we identify their strengths, needs, and deficits—and connect them with networks in the community.”
Making A Meaningful Impact
Gabriel said being part of the Family Wellness Initiative kept the electric on and his family fed. But the impact extended much further.
“The idea of never being able to walk without crutches was devastating to Joshua,” said Jarvis. “He would tell me in every meeting that his dream was to be able to walk into the school with his daughter on two legs instead of crutches.”
Acquiring a prosthetic leg for Gabriel was new territory for the organization. “We had never done anything like that before, but we were determined to make it happen,” Jarvis said.
Family Connection, the school system, Community Helping Place, and the Division of Family & Children Services worked together to secure a Jackson EMC grant that covered the $6,500 not covered by Medicaid for a prosthetic leg.
“I hated having to hop through the school. It kept me from being able to enjoy some of the events there,” said Gabriel. “When I got the grant for my leg, it was a tremendous relief. I couldn’t stop smiling when I walked into my daughter’s school for the first time.” And he wasn’t the only one.
“Sephira was so excited for her dad to walk her into school again,” Jarvis added. “It was an emotional and meaningful day for them.”
Gabriel is now employed as the assistant manager at Community Helping Place’s thrift store. “Joshua is a strong, capable, and natural leader—so when the opportunity came up, it was a perfect fit,” said Line.
“I’m working and I get to play and spend time with my family,” said Gabriel, whose goal is to move his family to a residence with better living conditions. “My future looks a lot better now.”
Going the Extra Mile
Lumpkin County Family Connection is committed to connecting everyone in the community to the sup
port and services they need—one family at a time. The Collaborative recently helped a single mom and her daughter who suffers from epilepsy acquire critical resources.
“The child had a lot of appointments in Atlanta each month, so the mom had to miss work and lose pay,” said Barker. “We helped her mom with concrete needs—such as emergency assistance for food, school supplies, and gas—and connected them to mental health services.”
When the child unexpectedly lost health insurance, the Collaborative helped the family apply for emergency Medicaid but faced roadblocks in getting her much-needed prescription refilled.
“The child had been without her seizure medication for two days,” said Barker. “We worked together with the school system for four hours calling pharmacies and Medicaid.”
The family was able to purchase five days of medication at cost, and the following day the insurance issue was resolved.
“The mom told us this potentially saved her child’s life,” said Barker, who also worked to get the family into safer, more affordable housing. “This is just one story of staff dedication and collaboration with partners—in addition to services and resources provided through the Student Outreach Center.”
Helping All Families Move Forward
Families on the Family Development pathway actively work with an advocate using assessments to track progress toward their goals. They receive individualized support to solve major problems, thanks to Promoting Safe and Stable Families funding.
The Collaborative works to increase protective factors in each family by utilizing strength-based assessments. “Our case management program encourages families to embrace those strengths while working on areas in which they may not be as strong,” explained Barker.
Lumpkin County Family Connection is adding new partners to the Collaborative table and using the Seven Vital Conditions for Well-Being framework, which advances a collaborative, cross-sector approach to improving community health and well-being and helps identify where and how to invest in communities to yield better results over time.
“We’re using this framework as a template for resource mapping to help increase collaboration among all partners,” said Barker. “We’re helping our members see that we can do so much more by strategically working together—and modeling that by example through our strong partnership with Community Helping Place.”