Joyce Mayberry Leads In New Role As Vice President of Family Formation

by Corey Burres | Jan 14, 2020

Joyce Mayberry Leads In New Role As Vice President of Family Formation

Joyce Mayberry will be moving into a new role as the Vice President of Family Formation. In this position, Joyce will continue to develop new ways to strengthen families in the communities we serve through our many partners.

This move in position reinforces three primary pillars of the Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) team – opportunity for high-quality education, meaningful work, and healthy families. Family formation is an important foundation for ensuring we can maximize the chances of someone charting a path out of poverty.

Joyce has served the GCO community for the past two decades, becoming a well-respected leader on family relationship resources. . Organizationally, she brings a powerful passion to better assist and train individuals on healthy relationships.

“I am excited about my new role as Vice President of Family Formation,” stated Joyce about this new alignment.” There is power in numbers and together we can help enhance and empower the well-being of family members.”

Through collaboration with recent new partners, Joyce will work to streamline our family education efforts and continue to champion our invaluable partners.

This change will help GCO successfully set up pathways for those stuck in the cycles of poverty. It is through this renewed vision that we hope to bring new opportunities and break down barriers in 2020.

Poll: Half of Georgians don’t want budget cuts

by Corey Burres | Jan 10, 2020

Most Georgians don’t want to see state budget cuts, according to a poll released Thursday, but critics say the language used in the survey was overly suggestive.

The survey conducted by the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute found that about half of Georgians are in favor of more state spending, and most do not support budget cuts.

A little more than 1,000 registered Georgia voters from across the state were polled by the nonprofit research organization…

However, Corey Burres, spokesperson for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said the verbiage used in the poll was meant to influence the responses.

“For instance, in question 2, the poll begins with ‘Most of these budget cuts will affect agencies focused on public safety, health care and education,'” he said. “However, the governor exempted education and health care from those cuts, so it is a bit misleading to lead a poll question with this type of information.”

Read the full article here

Georgia recoups about as much money in food stamp fraud as it spends

by Corey Burres | Dec 26, 2019

Georgia officials spend about as much investigating claims of food stamp fraud as they recoup for the state.

In the 2019 fiscal year, Georgia investigators spent more than $7.2 million to look into claims of fraud. Investigators found that $8.4 million in food stamps were wrongly distributed in 2,985 cases. State officials won’t say how much money they’ve recovered — the federal government releases that information — but in previous years it’s been in the neighborhood of 80%…

Buzz Brockway, the vice president of public policy for the think tank Georgia Center for Opportunity, said while the percentage of fraud is relatively low compared with the number of people who receive the benefits, he believes it’s important for the state to investigate and punish those involved.

“You want to try to prevent fraud when you can by putting safeguards in place to make sure the programs are benefiting the people (they were meant to benefit),” said Brockway, a former state House representative.

Read the full article here

Georgia Senate committee votes to maintain felon rights restrictions

by Corey Burres | Dec 19, 2019

The Senate Study Committee on Revising Voting Rights for Nonviolent Felony Offenders decided Wednesday to keep Georgia’s constitution as it is.

The members voted 3-2 in favor of continuing to restrict nearly 250,000 convicted Georgia felons from voting.

According to Georgia’s law, people who have been convicted of crimes with moral turpitude cannot vote until they complete their full sentence, including probation or parole. The U.S. Department of Justice defines moral turpitude as “conduct that shocks the public conscience.”

The state’s constitution does not clearly define the term, however, leaving all felonies subject to the law.

The committee was created to study which specific nonviolent crimes should be eligible for voting rights restoration based upon the moral turpitude exemption. Over four months, the committee heard testimony from advocacy groups on different sides of criminal justice reform.

According to the Georgia Center for Opportunity, one in 13 adults in Georgia is in jail, prison, on probation or parole. That’s significantly higher than the national average of one in 31.

Read the full article here

Creating healthy relationships, one man at a time

by David Bass | Dec 9, 2019

Creating healthy relationships, one man at a time

“Family is not an important thing.
It’s everything.”

MICHAEL J. FOX

Those words of wisdom from Michael J. Fox reflect a core reality about us as human beings. We long for meaningful connections. But in a culture where families are ripped apart, and loneliness and addiction are rampant, so many of our neighbors know nothing of the warmth, joy, and assurance of healthy relationships and a stable home life.

No longer Bound sign That’s why Georgia Center for Opportunity is partnering with organizations like No Longer Bound, an Atlanta-based organization that enrolls men in a 12-month residential regeneration process to rescue addicts, regenerate men, and rescue families. Men who go through the program resolve wounds from their past, repair damaged belief systems, restore relationship health, and receive a new identity.

Partnership with GCO

Staff at No Longer Bound noticed that men often came into their program with a history of broken romantic relationships. These men are eager to learn better ways to manage their relationships and earnestly want to become better husbands and fathers. Learning to identify a healthy partner and how to appropriately pace relationship development is a building block to supporting long-term recovery work.

A group photo with No Longer Bound staff

As a result, GCO’s Healthy Families Initiative provided a healthy relationship curriculum to No Longer Bound to help their men improve their relationship skills.

Positive feedback

The curriculum and class led to positive feedback from the men who participated, like these:

“The class has given me tools to use and concentrate on while starting to date my wonderful girlfriend of 13+ years again.”

“The class put certain things in perspective for me.”

“It made me more conscientious of the dating process and how to respectfully court a lady.”

“The class gave me a more introspective way to view how relationships work. For the majority of my life, I’ve realized that it was all about the other person and how they could change me. But it’s just the opposite—it’s completely about changing my inner self. That translates to a lasting relationship.”

“The class helped me look inward and identify what kind of woman I want. Also what kind of man I want to be.”

More about HFI

If you want to discover ways you can help your neighbors find relational stability and a healthy family life, HFI is here to partner with you. HFI is a community-based program that joins with local churches, nonprofits, schools, and businesses to help people from all walks of life enjoy healthy, intact families and strong relationships. Click here for more.

The Little Things: Keeping Perspective On Thanksgiving

by Corey Burres | Nov 25, 2019

The Little Things: Keeping Perspective On Thanksgiving

Like many of you, this Thanksgiving our family will sit around a large table filled with decorations, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, that odd jello that your distant aunt insists on bringing, and those that we love. At some point, someone will clang a glass to announce a few things they are thankful for. Others will join in, prayers will be said, and then we will converge into a moment of gorging ourselves on the bountiful blessings in front of us.

It’s a picture that will be repeated in many family homes across the country as we come together this Thanksgiving day.

These moments of reflection help us keep perspective on our lives, but also on the lives of others. We still live in a nation where nearly 49 million people are in poverty, including almost 14 million children. Their Thanksgiving dinner will likely be much different than our own.

The point of mentioning that is not to make anyone feel guilty, but rather to bring understanding and perspective on the blessings and responsibilities we do have. The truth is that we do not all face the same obstacles or opportunities in life.

Thanksgiving is a unique time for us to reflect on the opportunities we do have. Many of us, but not all, have had the opportunity to take advantage of a good education, a good job, and even a supportive family structure. These seemingly small things have helped set us up for success.

As you sit down this year and enjoy the time with family, dinner, and even the jello, remember the small things which brought you to this moment. Reflect on the opportunities afforded to you. And consider those less fortunate who are still waiting for their “little things” to arrive.

DONATE