The team at Advocates for Children (Advocates) is working hard to strengthen our community through education, advocacy, and prevention programs, empowering families to be free from child abuse. Serving families in Cobb and 10 other North Georgia counties, operations have been conducted at various locations since their start in 1983. With continuous growth, their 11 programs served more than 15,000 children and adults in the last 4 years. Understanding the access challenges faced by client families, and with a modern approach to trauma-informed services, President and CEO Rachel Castillo knew it was time to make some changes. She and her team have worked together with community partners including educators, public safety officers, local businesses, churches, and agencies like Cobb Community Foundation (CCF) to create their “Build Strong Families. Protect Children.” capital campaign. The new HQ and additional shelter sites will be created and maintained through funding provided by this campaign. The new structure will provide better access and experience for more client families.
Castillo is confident when speaking of the improved efficiencies of bringing all the Advocate’s family-centered services together under one roof in their new headquarters building. Her eyes light up when sharing the details of the family-friendly interior offices using trauma-informed design. Located in Cartersville, the new HQ is one of 3 major priorities in their new capital campaign. As they grow through this campaign, they are expanding services further into Cobb County. After meeting with Cobb Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Liaison Cat Gankofskie, Castillo remarked that she, “knew right away what a great partner that CCF could be.” Creating an Endowment fund through CCF allowed them to take advantage not only of the administrative services offered, but also the additional layer of financial oversight valued by donors.
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“Just delivered the bike to our family living in a hotel. Dad is grateful to have a faster way to get around than walking. He has been working overtime to get out of the hotel. Biggest obstacle is credit, but this family has been doing everything they can to be self- sufficient and put their kids in a better situation.” – Sarah Winograd-Babayeuski
The most recently established of the 11 programs managed under the Advocates for Children umbrella, Together for Families was begun by the energetic Sarah Winograd-Babayeuski as a grassroots effort. This family-focused, volunteer group came about after Winograd, disheartened after doing some volunteer work in the court system, set out to make some changes. She saw families being separated through foster care not because of neglect, but because of the realities of poverty. She was seeing too many cases where the separations could have been avoided simply by attaining basic care items or an affordable place to live. She began assembling a team of friends and collecting needed items for these families. As they began to identify greater needs and were asked to help more families, they realized the necessity of scaling their operation. To increase donations, they considered the option of establishing themselves as a new nonprofit organization. Cobb Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Liaison Cat Gankofskie met with Winograd and suggested she instead look at stable nonprofits currently doing work among the same population of families with similar goals.
Together for Families is now a part of the Advocates for Children organization. This collaboration had some major advantages of synergy. The new arrangement allowed Together for Families the 501(c)(3) status needed to receive grants and other financial considerations and put Winograd together with the seasoned leadership of an established nonprofit organization. Together, they are making families stronger alongside 11 other Advocates programs by meeting more needs and keeping more children with family instead of foster care.
More information about all the programs of Advocates for Children and their areas of service may be found here. Donations to assist Advocates for Children in their mission to strengthen our community empowering families to be free from child abuse may be made here.
