.MTM5OA.MTM5OA

C C A A omni.unity ouncil of' the tlanta rea inc. EUGENE T. BRANCH, Chairman of the Board of Directors DUANE W. BECK, Executive Director 1000 GLENN BUILDING, 120 MARIETTA STREET, N.W. ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 ALENE F . UHRY, Editor TELEPHONE 577-2250 January, 1970 S P E' C I A L E D I T I O N LOOKING AHEAD Eugene Branch, Chairman of the Community Council's Board of Directors, has carefully reviewed our activities of the year just ended, and now looks ahead to 1970. We believe Communique readers will be interested in the following program Mr. Branch envisions: The beginning of a new year is a good time for an organization to pause long enough to·consider where it is in the achievement of its goals and where it is going. Since others are due the credit, I think it not immodest of me to say that I believe the Council did a good job in 1969. However, rather than dwell on the 1969 activities, it would seem more helpful to mention some of the activitie~ which will be given priority in 1970. In addition to the normal and on-going activities of the Social Research Center and Permanent Conference, the following illustrate the activities which will be given emphasis in 1970: 1. Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C) The 4-C program is a federal program designed to develop a coordinated program to provide services to children--and thus make better use of the community's funds and resources in providing such services. Atlanta was named a pilot community and the Council was named the delegate agency. A Steering Committee composed of parents, representatives of day care agencies and organizations has been elected and is at work. Much of our staff time will be devoted to this activity. This is an outgrowth of our Child Development Project. 2. Day Care Action Subcommittee ~he very fine work of this Subcommittee will be continued in 1970. Its function is to stimulate interest in day care and help develop new day care resources. In 1969 -the Subcommittee published a Day Care Manual which provides a step-by-step guide to those interested in planning and developing a day care center. The response has been so enthusiastic that we are swamped with requests by church groups and others for technical assistance. This important activity also arose out of our Child Development Project. �3•. Coordination of Services and Planning One of the most important on-going activities of the Council is that of bringing together planning and service agencies in an effort to provide coordination of planning and services. The existing funds and resources for dealing with our urgent urban problems are extremely limited and all agencies have an obligation to jointly plan and coordinate their activities in dealing with the problems which are their major ooncern. Space does not permit an adequate description of the Council's work activities in coordination but periodic reports will be given in Communique. 4. Emergency Assistance Every effort to identify the most urgent problems in our five-county area has resulted in high priority being given to the need for developing more resources for emergency assistance. There are many aspects of the problem. An Emergency Assistance Committee has been organized and has begun to funotion. It has determined to work first on developing resou1·ces to deal with the problems arising out of evictions. Hundreds of families are evicted each year and there is no organized program to help the evicted families with such needs as storage space for furniture, temporary shelter, food etc. 5. Other Special Activities (a) Welfare Committee. Practically everyone agrees that our entire welfare program must be overhauled. A Welfare Committee is studying various income maintenance programs, including the Administrationts Family Assistance Act, and will make periodic reports. (b) Advisory Committee for Information and Referral. This Committee was formed to assist in the improvement of information and referral service in the metropolitan Atlanta area and to devise means for improving services to meet the most urgent needs identified by such service. Among other things, this Committee will help focus attention on the most serious ummet needs in our area. (c) Fourteenth Street Multi-Purpose Center. The Council has leased a house on Juniper Street to be used as a community center for the Fourteenth Street area. It is functioning and has been well-received. The focus will be on a voluntary medical clinic, a counseling center and a twenty-four hour inform~tion and referral· service. This facility is being operated at the present time entirely by volunteers. The Center can meet a great neea and we'll keep you up to date on its activities in Communique. (d) Interagency Council ~ Alcohol ~ Drugs. This Council is simply a "coming together' of established agencies concerned with problems related to the use of alcohol and drugs. It provides a means by which such agencies can work together. The Council has divided itself into the following five Task Forces: Resources and Existing Facilities and Services, Education, Treatment and Counseling, Speakers Bureau, and Legal Aspects and Legislation. You've received some information on this important and interesting activity and more will be forthcoming. (e) Expanded Public Information Service. We have improved our methods of getting valuable information to the general public and will give greater emphasis to this activity. The information gathered by our Research Center and through our various programs, if properly and attractively passed on to the general public, will provide our area with a better informed citizenry. This greater understanding of our problems will in time result in an improvement in services and funds to meet the problems. �The above are simply illustrative of the variety of activities in which the Council is engaged. The Child Development Project revealed the need for further work on such problems as retardation of children, the need for twenty-four hour child care, learning difficulties etc. Volunteer Atlanta The Council is a .sponsor of Volunteer Atlanta and will continue to assist this project. As you may recall, Volunteer Atlanta was brought about largely by the Council and is sponsored by the Council, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Junior League, the Community Chest, and E.O.A. Its object is to recruit, train and place volunteers in public and private agencies throughout the five-county area. We think this can be one of the most important projects begun in the Atlanta area during recent years. Assistance to Groups The Council is receiving an ever increasing number of requests for technical assistance from agencies, neighborhood groups, and civic organizations. Agencies are requesting assistance in reviewing their prog1·ams; neighborhoods are seeking assistance in the drafting of proposals for resident-determined programs; and civic organizations are asking for suggestions as to the type of programs in which they might be effectively involved Thus, technical assistance to neighborhood groups and direct service agencies is becoming a major role of the Council. We think this role should be emphasized and that means must be devised to adequately provide such assistance. The Council is·basically a collection of staff, accumulated information and experience, and skill, and whenever its assistance can make agencies, neighborhood groups, churches and civic organizations more effective in their work, we add to the funds and resources being put to effective use in our community. This type of . assistance is one of the most important functions t _he Council can perform. Program Development During the early part of 1970, we expect to organize a Program Development Committee for the Council. This Committee will be made up of Board members and individuals who are not on the Board. Its function will be to provide a means for continually reviewing the work activities of the Councii and assisting in the establishment of priority for its programs. The Council is a social planning organization which can be an important resource in the community only if it retains its vitality and flexibility. If the Council had become rigid in devising its programs, its people and resources would not have been available to engage in some of the activities described above which maintain a balance between continuity in those activities which look to long range improvement and flexibility sufficient to give the community the benefit of the skill and information available through the Council's resources. The Program Development Committee will provide a means for retaining the Council's vitality and balance in its work activities. Obviously there is a great deal to be done to make our five-county area a better place in which to live. I think it equally obvious that there is a great deal with which to do the job if we plan and work together with imagination, enthusiasm and a sense of urgency. So let's roll up our sleeves and see what we can accomplish together in 1970. �