State of Hope: State of Hope Sites Announced!

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Greetings Hope-Givers,

After over a year of planning and design, the State of Hope application process was finalized and launched on June 25 at the Destination Hope event in Augusta, GA. After a robust application cycle, we are excited to announce that over 60 BIG IDEAS from all over the state were submitted for consideration. Of those applications, 46 were selected to be State of Hope sites, including five which will receive funding and specialized technical assistance. An additional 11 were selected to be Emerging sites. All 57 State of Hope and Emerging sites will be invited to become part of a larger learning community – the Hope Ecosystem –  where they can receive technical assistance, access opportunities for funding, build partnerships and connect with each other.

A special congratulations to the five organizations selected to receive seed funding and specialized technical assistance:

• City of Refuge NW Georgia, Region 1
• Restoration Rome, Region 3
• Oconee Area Resource Council, Region 5
• Enrichment Services Programs, Inc., Region 8
• Coastal Georgia Area Community Action Authority, Region 12

The State of Hope supports grass-roots, innovative efforts that focus on one or more of the four opportunities for hope: Education, being/becoming Trauma-Informed, Quality Caregiving and Economic Self-Sufficiency. These are the priority areas that we believe will have the greatest impact on keeping children safe, strengthening families and empowering communities. The goal is to create Communities of Hope in each of Georgia’s 14 regions.

We are also happy to announce that the next Destination Hope Event will convene in Region 5 (Athens area) from September 24 to 26. This event will serve as an opportunity for the Interim DFCS Director to conduct statewide visits to meet with stakeholders and the public at large, as well as to further engage with the new State of Hope sites.

We appreciate your support and hope that you will consider applying during the next application cycle in early 2019. For more information, questions or to be added to the State of Hope mailing list, please contact: [email protected].

In Hope,

Tom Rawlings
Interim Division Director