Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives in Northeast Georgia Host Fourth Annual Resource Fair

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Front row from left: Katy Jones of Union County Family Connection, Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP) Executive Director Gaye Smith, Toni Brown of the GaFCP Community Support Team, Nanette Baughman of White County Family Connection, Layla McBrayer of Dawson County Family Connection
Back row: Susan Harris of Franklin County Family Connection, Jennifer Reagan, GaFCP Director of External Affairs Elizabeth Turner, Carol Williams of Banks County Family Connection, Laura Lane of Rabun County Family Connection, Brigette Barker of Lumpkin County Family Connection, Kyndra Cohen of Hall County Family Connection Network, Andrea Hunnicut of Towns County Family Connection, Sarah Pedarre of Forsyth County Community Connection, Virginia Dick of the GaFCP Evaluation and Results Accountability Team, Donna Barrett of Habersham County Family Connection, Tanya Hartman of Dawson County Family Connection

 

A winter storm warning forecasting two to four inches of snow and strong wind gusts did little to slow the 13 Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives in northeast Georgia from hosting 90 vendors and 65 community and service providers at Lanier Technical College’s Ramsey Center for the region’s fourth annual resource fair.

The event convenes community members and local organizations in a central location to share their missions, build relationships, and strengthen coordination across the region—ensuring families are better connected to the support available to them.

“We meet regularly as peers to assess persistent challenges confronting our counties,” said Lumpkin County Family Connection Director Brigette Barker. “We learned, by coming together, that we share a common commitment to strengthening families and confronting high rates of child abuse and neglect.”

Recognizing gaps in services and access, the Collaborative coordinators set out to convene community partners to align support and better connect their most vulnerable neighbors to the help they need.

“Our resource fair is a direct reflection of that goal,” said Barker. “We’re bringing providers together in one place to collaborate, coordinate, and ensure families can more easily access meaningful support.”

What began as a dream in a small Habersham EMC facility caught on quickly. The resource fair outgrew its space in its inaugural year, and that’s when the event moved to the Ramsey Center.

“This event continues to grow because community members—and our vendors—get excited because they learn so much from each other,” said Barker. “People want to return, and they’re coming in with their own large bags, ready to collect lots of resource material. It’s been so successful working together. It really lightens the workload when our Collaboratives come together.”

By co-hosting the event, Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives can recruit sponsors across county lines so that they don’t have to charge the vendors to have a table. Through those partnerships and sponsors, they’re able to provide attractive door prizes and a hospitality space for the vendors and resource providers with whom the Collaboratives regularly network and partner.

Victoria Duston, victim advocate for No One Alone, an organization that provides safe haven and support services for victims of family violence, agreed. “One of the things I love about Dawson County Family Connection is that it provides a place for us to come and speak about our mission, like when I visited in October to discuss Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” she said. “I was able to talk not only about what we do but what we need, and I left with so many resources and people reaching out to fill in gaps. It’s amazing to see a community come together to work cohesively to fill all the needs.”

United Way Compass Center Case Manager Jasmin Cruz, who connects families in Hall County to the services and support they need, responding in real time and meeting them where they are, said Georgia Family Connection is an essential partner in that work.

“They broaden our awareness of available supports, introduce innovative approaches, and open doors to new community partnerships,” said Cruz. “Because of that collaboration, we’re better equipped to respond quickly and effectively—and achieve stronger outcomes for families.”

The resource fair underscores how Georgia Family Connection empowers children, families, and communities to thrive by harnessing the power of collaboration and reliable data, and how this network of partners—not just in northeast Georgia, but across the state—is crafting locally driven solutions that maximize resources, fills in service gaps, and makes systems more effective and efficient.

“In times of scarce resources, it’s even more critically imperative that we use every resource wisely and ensure that support is accessible to those who need it most,” said Georgia Family Connection Partnership Executive Director Gaye Smith. “The resource fair in Gainesville for the surrounding communities is a compelling demonstration of what’s possible when public and private providers align around a shared purpose and work together. It was both affirming and inspiring to see that level of collaboration in action.”

Learn more about the work Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives in northeast Georgia are doing to help local service agencies and organizations develop and work together on integrated strategies to improve child, family, and community well-being:

 

Contact:
Bill Valladares
GaFCP Communications Director
404-739-0043
william@gafcp.org


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