by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 25, 2014
Image retrieved from iamgifted.org.
Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) desires to see students flourish. As a way of realizing this vision, GCO supports organizations that have a similar heartbeat to see students succeed. One such organization is the Gifted Education Foundation (Gifted).
This summer, GCO had the privilege of hosting Gifted’s founder, Anthony Flynn, for a Lunch & Learn where he discussed how Gifted got started and the impact it is making in the community. Local high school students, education leaders, and various non-profit workers came to the event to learn more about this promising organization.
Flynn opened the session by sharing an inspiring testimony about his life.
Born to a 17-year-old single mother in Memphis, Tennessee, his childhood was marked by upheaval and transition. Nonetheless, he overcame adversity and earned a scholarship to play football at Tennessee Tech University. College proved to be another period of trials, however, as he found himself surrounded by peers who made negative choices. After attending this school for just a semester, he decided to transfer to the University of Memphis where he would go on to graduate in four years.
After graduating from college, Flynn continued his education and earned a Master of Arts (Religion) from Memphis Theological Seminary. During this time, he worked as a student pastor where he served and mentored many at-risk students. This work led him to become involved in sustainable urban development that focused on restoring the economic, educational, and social foundation of his community, and later to serve as president of a national organization that trains urban leaders to impact America’s 250 most at-risk zip codes. From these experiences, Flynn went on to found Gifted in 2012.
Gifted exists to produce first generation college graduates and marketplace leaders from low-income communities across America. It is built upon the premise that every child has the potential to succeed if given the opportunity and guidance he or she needs.
Image retrieved from iamgifted.org.
Flynn believes that although “16 million American children are growing up in poverty,” they do not have to stay there. They can move forward “with the right educational opportunities and a structured system of leaders guiding them through a proven process.”
Providing this opportunity and guidance is precisely what Gifted seeks to do.
As a way of accomplishing this mission, Gifted has developed a four-phased strategy. Each phase prepares students for their next step in life, equipping them with the skills and resources needed to maximize their potential:
Phase 1: The Gifted Preparatory School
The first phase of the strategy involves preparing high school students for college, careers, and the rest of their life by teaching them general life skills, improving their ability to take standardized tests, building college and career awareness, and directing students toward scholarship and financial aid options.
Phase 2: The Gifted College Access Program
The second phase is designed to serve a select group of students who receive comprehensive life skills development and college readiness training. This training occurs on a college campus throughout students’ junior and senior years of high school. The focus is on improving their writing and standardized test-taking abilities, guiding them through the college application process, scholarships and financial aid, and strengthening their life skills in the realm of decision-making, conflict resolution, and time management, among others.
Phase 3: The Gifted Mentoring Program
The third phase provides students who successfully complete the Gifted College Access Program with hands-on, experiential coaching through the Gifted Enrichment and Retention Curriculum. Each student is assigned to a Life Development Coordinator and placed in cohorts where life-on-life accountability and support is deliberated throughout their entire undergraduate education. Students will also participate in leadership development programs, internships, fellowships, and research graduate school options.
Phase 4: The Gifted Leadership Program
Finally, the fourth phase consists of two tiers:
The first tier will provide college graduates with a key marketplace partner who will serve as a life and career mentor. Graduates will work to develop short, medium, and long-term goals in a variety of life categories. In addition, they will cultivate leadership skills, work to enhance existing relationships, and develop a civic and community engagement plan.
The second tier is for graduates who have the criteria in place to become marketplace leaders. They will receive preparation for mid-level to senior-level executive leadership roles in the marketplace, mentor at least one student in the Gifted program, receive training and opportunity for philanthropy and high-impact community involvement, and be trained to serve as entry-level board members for community and non-profit organizations.
Image retrieved from http://iamgifted.org.
Through the implementation of this strategy, Gifted hopes to achieve three outcomes over the course of a student’s involvement with the program. The first is that Gifted students graduate high school equipped with academic and life skills necessary to enroll in and be successful at a four-year college/university. The second is that Gifted students graduate college and are successfully hired in the marketplace or enrolled in graduate school within six months of college graduation. The third is that Gifted alumni take on the responsibility of mentoring at least one other student within six months of their graduation.
Cultivating the mentality of giving back is important for the continued success of the program and for growing lifelong, benevolent people that will continue to serve their communities.
Gifted’s comprehensive approach prepares students to be successful in college, in their career, and in life. For this reason, GCO is proud to encourage community partners to support Gifted in seeing students reach their full potential.
To learn more about Gifted, get involved with their work, or read stories about their success, visit http://iamgifted.org/.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Aug 22, 2014
A word from our CEO, Randy Hicks
Election years get noisy, don’t they? Perhaps it’s just me, but they actually seem to be getting noisier with every election cycle.
On the brighter side, election years always remind me of why the Georgia Center for Opportunity’s policy work is so important: Politicians come and go but GCO is always here, contending for the things you care about, no matter who’s in public office.
That’s what we’ve been up to this election year – working on what matters to you. And because you’ve been a friend of the Georgia Center for Opportunity, I’d like to update you on our work over the past few months.
I am also writing to ask you to renew your support for the Georgia Center for Opportunity by continuing to invest in our work – and by taking advantage of the opportunity to double your gift. We can’t do any of this without you!
As you know, the Georgia Center for Opportunity believes that one of the defining ideas of America is a nation where everyone has an opportunity to achieve a better life. Like you, we believe that people from all walks of life should have the chance to succeed through talent and hard work, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.
GCO’s mission is to remove barriers to that kind of opportunity in Georgia.
The barriers we remove include those that interfere with healthy family formation, that limit access to quality education, and that promote dependency rather than self-sufficiency. Sometimes those barriers are personal, other times they’re cultural, and still other times they’re governmental. Our work takes aim at those barriers. For example, in recent months GCO has:
- Published a report with recommended alternatives to Medicaid expansion that would increase Georgians’ access to quality healthcare.
- Produced prisoner reentry policy recommendations that were signed into law and adopted by the Governor’s office that increase the likelihood of ex-offenders finding and maintaining work, a key successful reentry and public safety.
- Incubated Breakthrough Ambassadors, a community-based, mostly student-led program that prepares students for success both academically and professionally.
Here’s a deeper look at those issues and why GCO tackled them:
Charity Care as an Alternative to Medicaid Expansion
Given the constant fiscal crisis in Washington, it is our view that states must start finding creative ways to help those in need without looking to the federal government for help. And we recognize that some of the most compelling alternative solutions are developed at the community level, not in government offices.
For the past several months, much of GCO’s research has been focused on identifying ways we, as a state, can provide healthcare access for individual, poor, uninsured Georgians without expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
In the process, we found local, sustainable ways to address the problem at a fraction of the long-term costs associated with the ACA. We propose reforms that will offer better health outcomes and stabilize financial burdens for Georgia families while maintaining responsible and sustainable levels of government spending. One of the best ways to meet the need for access to healthcare is Georgia’s charity-care network.
In 2012, Georgia’s charity clinics served nearly 200,000 individuals and saved the state over $200 million. They did all this without any support from the state. But with relatively modest support from the state – and some other changes to various laws and regulations – the charity care network could serve hundreds of thousands more. (You may access the report at www.foropportunity.org/assets/Charity-Care-Report.pdf.)
Our next step is to education lawmakers about the steps they must take to serve individuals and families who may not have access to quality care.
Prisoner Reentry
Georgia’s incarceration rate is the highest in the country: about 1 in 13 Georgians are under some form of state supervision, versus 1 in 31 nationally. That’s a staggering difference. And between 1990 and 2011, Georgia’s prison population more than doubled to nearly 56,000 inmates. State spending on corrections soared as well, from $492 million to more than $1 billion annually. Despite this substantial investment, Georgia’s 30% recidivism rate had remained virtually unchanged for a decade.
Simply put in terms of dollars and cents, Georgia cannot afford these costs. But more importantly, we cannot afford the tragic human costs.
So, think about this: If we reduced the rate at which ex-offenders lapsed into criminal behavior by a very doable 10 percent, we would reduce the state costs of incarceration by $60 to $70 million per year. But more to the point, that ten-percent reduction would represent about 2000 ex-offenders who will have successfully reentered society, likely found employment, and quite possibly reconnected with their families in positive ways. That’s a pretty large-scale win-win!
You see, through our experience working to strengthen families, we have seen the social problems that arise from parents cycling in and out of prison. We have seen the impact this instability can have on children’s intellectual, social, and emotional development. And we have seen ex-offenders working hard to overcome barriers to successful reentry.
Over recent months, through our research and work with prisoner reentry experts, we have proposed and successfully advocated for solutions to remove unnecessary barriers to reentry. As I said, three of those policy recommendations were signed into law in April, and two additional recommendations were adopted by the Governor’s office.
The formula was this success? Excellent research, expert partners and effective advocacy. That’s what we do.
A Community Focus: Breakthrough Ambassadors
GCO remains a leading advocate for school choice in Georgia. In recent years, we helped lead the charge to create Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarship and Tuition Tax Credit programs; and more needs to be done to increase access to quality education. But we also recognize that it’s important that our public schools perform well, and that a higher percentage of kids in those schools graduate and get on the path toward a productive and satisfying life.
To that end, GCO created and launched Breakthrough Ambassadors, which is a mentoring program that provides high school students with service and leadership opportunities designed to enhance post-high school success. The current pilot program was created to support the Breakthrough Norcross initiative that has an overarching goal to increase the number of Norcross Cluster students who graduate from high school.
More than 120 Norcross HS students are now participating in programs and events that expose them to various colleges, career paths, and service opportunities and assist them in improving academic performance.
In the coming years, we will be replicating the program in communities around the state, so that many more students will have the opportunity to succeed.
As you can see, we’ve been quite busy. Which is exactly how we like it.
We are grateful for men and women like you who support our work, invest in the future of Georgia, and make our success possible.
Your renewed support for the Georgia Center for Opportunity will help us continue to do the kind of work I’ve described, work that’s designed to remove barriers to opportunity so that all Georgians – and Georgia’s families – have a real chance to prosper.
Will you please consider making a special gift $75, $150, $250, or even as much as $500, $1000 or whatever your means allow. And thanks to the generosity of a key GCO supporter and the GCO board, any gift given between now and August 31st will doubled.
Thank you for your investment in GCO’s mission and work.
You may make a secure donation online here.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jul 11, 2014
Recently, the Breakthrough Fellows at GCO watched and discussed M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. This movie, for those who haven’t seen it, chronicles a religious, cult-like community that lives deep in the woods. This community is watched by “those we don’t speak of,” who have a standing agreement to not enter into the community so long as the border outside of the community’s village is not breached.
As the movie progresses, the social fabric of the village begins to erode. This erosion reaches its pinnacle when Noah Percy, played by Adrian Brody, stabs Lucius Hunt, played by Joaquin Phoenix, over jealousy of Mr. Hunt’s impending marriage to Ivy Walker, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. This stabbing and the different reactions to it offer three valuable lessons that can be applied to any community.
First, human nature has a base and evil element. This lesson is seen in Noah’s jealousy, which leads him to stab Lucius. Despite the effects of religion or different social constraints, humanity has base desires that will lead to civil unrest and societal disorder. The primitive innocence was not able to create the social conditions necessary to eradicate the evil desires in Noah’s heart.
Second, the village was founded on a “noble lie.” In Plato’s Republic, Socrates explains that the City in Speech – a utopia – must be founded upon a “noble lie,” which gives a false account of the city in order to trick the citizens into supporting the endeavor. Similarly, in this movie, we see that the village was founded on a noble lie. This noble lie was agreed upon by the elders in hopes of creating an innocent society without the presence of evil. As they discuss how to respond to Noah’s stabbing of Lucius, the village elders have to reveal the noble lies that the village was founded upon.
Finally, utopias are not founded upon reality. Given the previous two points, it stands to reason that a utopian society would be founded upon untruthful presumptions about human nature. It can thus be concluded that utopias would lack a proper conception of reality. As we see at the end of The Village, Ivy steps out of the woods and into a completely different, very modern world. By receiving the medicine needed to save Lucius from the real world, Ivy shows the inadequacy of the utopia and the importance of engaging with reality.
Here at GCO, we work to remove barriers to social and economic barriers to opportunity. As we learned through this discussion, it is futile to try to overcome these barriers without realizing the importance of grounding our solutions in reality. In our work, we hope to take into account the many barriers that are an every day reality for Georgians and tailor our solutions to provide opportunity that is grounded in that reality.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jun 30, 2014
Photo courtesy of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, http://www.stmaustin.org/catholic-single-parents.
When someone mentions the word homeless, what picture first comes into your mind? A person huddled under a bridge in a sleeping bag or lying on a park bench next to a grocery cart with a few belongings; or perhaps a person standing on the street corner holding cardboard sign that reads, “Hungry. Anything Helps.” While these are tragic pictures of the reality of homelessness in our country, many people are homeless in less overt ways all around us.
In its simplest form, a person is homeless if they lack stable housing.[i] This situation may include a wide range of circumstances, from living on the street, to staying in a shelter or transitional house, to doubling-up with family members or friends for a short period of time. The stark reality is that those who are homeless face instability, and this takes a toll on people, especially children.
Georgia has a number of organizations that work to address the issue of homelessness. One notable organization, Family Promise of Gwinnett County, Inc. (Family Promise), focuses specifically on addressing the needs of families that have become homeless due to a temporary change in circumstances like losing a job. This interfaith non-profit is part of a national organization founded in 1986 which has 182 local organizations nation-wide. Family Promise’s mission is “to mobilize communities of congregations that partner with social service agencies to end homelessness – one family at a time.”[ii]
Family Promise stands as one of the few shelter programs in Gwinnett that specifically target homeless families. Their emphasis on families as opposed to individuals is rooted in the reality that families with children are among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population.[iii] Estimates in Gwinnett County show that 60 percent of the homeless family population consists of children, and 50 percent of these children are under the age of six. This reality is reflected in the Gwinnett County School System which accommodated over 3,000 homeless students during the 2011-2012.[iv]
Georgia as a whole ranked 41st in the nation in matters related to child homelessness in 2010, having an estimated 45,566 homeless children.[v]
Most of the families served by Family Promise are single-parent households, and 60 percent of their guests have experienced situational homelessness before.[vi] Families must go through a thorough interview process to qualify for the 30 to 90 days shelter program, which involves a review of their work history, evictions, criminal background, and drug history. In addition, families must have a child under 18 years of age to qualify for the program, and at least one person in the household is required to have at least a part-time job during their stay.
Families stay in the program 51-55 days on average. They must move to a new host church every week as a way preventing them from becoming too comfortable and as a way of balancing the demand placed upon the host churches. Participants are required to actively search for a job and to work regularly once they obtain one. Typical jobs that participants obtain include fast food service, retail, housekeeping, landscaping, and customer service.
In 2013, Family Promise served a total of 38 families of whom 74 percent graduated from the program. Of these graduates, 55 percent had a job and 64 percent had a place to live upon leaving the program.[vii]
Chuck Ferraro, executive director of Family Promise, estimates that there are more than 400 churches of various sizes in Gwinnett. His job is to recruit these churches to be partners by agreeing to house up to four homeless families in their church building for one week out of the year. Currently, families rotate weekly among 30 Host Congregations in the network. Each host congregation is responsible for providing lodging, three meals a day, and general hospitality three to four times a year. Lodging consists of church classrooms and other open rooms in the building that can be converted into living spaces for these families during the week. Churches are able to do this in areas of their buildings that require limited use during the week.
Ferraro said that if he can get thirteen churches committed to housing a homeless family once a quarter, the needs of families that they serve could be covered for an entire year. However, getting churches to make this sort of commitment is a major challenge, he expressed. They are often pulled in a variety of directions when it comes to ministry focuses, and housing homeless families is not always a popular draw (despite the fact that caring for the poor is a central mission of the Church, he argues).
Nonetheless, Ferraro explained that there are ample opportunities for congregations to be involved in the work besides hosting families, and these include providing regular volunteers and funding. Volunteers are essential to the success of Family Promise as they provide a wide range of services that keep the program in operation, from cooking and serving meals, to playing with children and helping them with homework, to interacting with guests and providing overnight security.
As a way of addressing the needs of families beyond the immediate shelter program, Family Promise has created an aftercare program that supports families for up to a year after their time in the shelter program. Families who enter the aftercare program will receive case management, parenting and nutrition classes, and financial support that will help them on their pathway toward self-sustainability. The organization is looking to target twelve families per year for this program.
Addressing the needs of homeless families can be an overwhelming task. However, when members of a community join together to serve in the unique capacity that each is able, a tangible and significant difference can be made in the life and trajectory of a family.
[i] National Health Care for the Homeless Council, “What is the official definition of homelessness?” accessed June 23, 2014, http://www.nhchc.org/faq/official-definition-homelessness/.
[ii] Family Promise of Gwinnett County, Inc., “A Recovery & Sustainability Program for Homeless Families,” Brochure, received June 6, 2014.
[iii] National Coalition for the Homeless, “Who is Homeless?” Fact Sheet, July 2009, accessed June 23, 2014, http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/who.html.
[iv] Family Promise of Gwinnett County, Inc., “A Recovery & Sustainability Program.”
[v] Ellen L. Bassuk et al., America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, The National Center on Family Homelessness, December 2011, 35, http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf.
[vi] Interview with Chuck Ferraro, Executive Director at Family Promise of Gwinnett County, June 6, 2014.
[vii] Family Promise of Gwinnett County, Inc., “A Recovery & Sustainability Program.”
by Kimberly Sawatka | Jun 17, 2014
While no English word truly captures the full meaning of the Greek word Arete, its simplest translation is excellence. It is the divine essence of the word, however, that Derek Monjure had in mind when he founded Arete Scholars Fund Inc. As a Student Scholarship Organization (SSO), Arete is dedicated to helping low-income families access quality education at private schools in Georgia. The Breakthrough Fellows and GCO team members recently had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Monjure and Arete’s Director of Communications Buck Alford to learn more about Georgia’s tax credit scholarship program and their role as SSO operators.
For those unfamiliar with Georgia’s tax credit scholarship, the program allows corporations to donate up to 75% of their state income liability to a state approved SSO. Additionally, families are able to contribute up to $2,500. In return, both corporate and individual contributors receive a tax credit for the same amount of their donation. SSOs then use the raised funds to grant scholarships of as much as $8,983 a school year. This money goes directly to families and is used towards placing their child in the partnering private school of their choice. On average, Arete awards scholarships of $4,ooo-$5,000 to the families they serve.
The tax credit scholarship program has been a great opportunity for the more than 15,000 students who have been fortunate enough to receive scholarships. However, many more opportunities exist to eliminate the barriers that bar even more of Georgia’s children from this same benefit. One such opportunity is to raise the overall tax credit program cap, or perhaps remove it all together. The 2014 contribution cap of $58 million was reached in just three weeks. In one regard, this signifies the popularity of the program and desire of Georgians to contribute to quality education. In a less positive regard, reaching the cap so quickly has already affected the SSOs, families, and students whose donors missed the cut off. For Arete, and many other SSOs,
Despite the challenges, the spirit and energy of Arete Scholars remains focused on providing the financial means necessary for students to pursue a level of academic excellence that they would otherwise be unable to access. The organization has even begun expanding its operations into other states, starting with Louisiana. Though Mr. Monjure is quick to say his work is simply transactional, it is clear from his passion that his mission is actually rooted in a higher calling.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Jun 6, 2014
Prison is not typically the place where men openly share their feelings with each other, for fear of coming across as soft. However, several GCO team members experienced something markedly different while sitting-in on a fatherhood class at Clayton County Transitional Center.[i]
Reflecting on this experience, Breakthrough Fellow Michael Schulte writes:
It was wonderful to see the men open up as they spoke about their children, sharing their names, ages, and where they live now. One man had been away from his two kids for 14 years, and I could see by looking at his face how much it pained him. Many of these men are hopeful for the chance to simply be around their children again.
The fatherhood class is run by It Takes a Village Today (ITAVT), a non-profit whose name is derived from an ancient African proverb emphasizing community responsibility in the upbringing of children. As such, its mission is to preserve children and ensure they have a good upbringing through instilling the values of fatherhood within the men who will be returning to their families from prison.
The class provides a number of important services to the men including offering instruction on what it means to be a good father, helping noncustodial parents identify existing child support orders, and providing assistance in legitimizing children.
Concerning legitimation, Breakthrough Fellow Aundrea Gregg writes:
I was quite astounded by the number of men with unknown numbers of kids – men in need of help discovering once and for all who belongs to them. For fathers hopeful to build stronger relationships with their children, uncertainty of paternity can have serious implications…Any man wishing to gain rights to custody, visitation, or even have their children take their last name must complete the legitimation process…It Takes a Village…provide[s] the legal support that is needed for participants of the program to take paternity tests, file voluntary parental acknowledgement forms, and complete the legitimation process.
In addition to providing practical help, the class offers a forum for the men to speak openly about their children, share their goals as fathers, and reflect upon their own upbringing. Katherine Greene, Program Specialist with GCO, was particularly impacted as the men reflected on what sort of fathers they had while growing up. She explains:
One of the facilitators…asked two thought provoking questions: ‘What was your father like and how do you compare to him?’ Most of their responses surprised me. Many of them described their fathers as being positive role models in their lives. In the words of one inmate, ‘My father was a loving man. He was protective and very strict. He was present in my life. I just made some bad decisions which landed me in here.’ His words, among others who shared that day, really resonated with me.
Each of the GCO team members in attendance left the class feeling privileged to have learned about the men’s lives and were moved by the experience. Patrick Kaiser, Senior Manager of Research and Development, summed up the visit in the following words:
I think everyone should have a similar experience to see that these men are not like criminals portrayed in the media. Rather, they are men who have faced daunting challenges in their lives, made mistakes in how they tackled these challenges, and are looking to make amends for their errors and become positive community members. Many of these men were failed by their communities as children and young adults. We must not fail them again.
[i] Offenders entering transitional centers in Georgia typically have 6-12 months remaining in their sentence.
