Photo: Reid Smith-Vaniz (right), an international business major at UGA, helps youngsters create valentines at the Garnett Ridge Family Support Center. Photo by Paul Efland.
By Denise H. Horton
Photo: Reid Smith-Vaniz (right), an international business major at UGA, helps youngsters create valentines at the Garnett Ridge Family Support Center. Photo by Paul Efland.
Since its opening in late July, the Garnett Ridge Family Support Center has been expanding by leaps and bounds, giving faculty and students from the School of Social Work new opportunities to work with the community.
"We have a Boy Scout troop, English-as-a-Second-Language classes, an after-school program for elementary students and Spanish classes meeting on a regular basis," says Jim Gaudin, professor of social work.
Doctoral student Elizabeth Brown serves as coordinator for the center. Five social work master's degree students and three social work undergraduates are working as interns, and part-time staff member Angie Moon oversees the ESL program.
Needs assessed
Work on Garnett Ridge began a year ago when Brown began gathering information from residents about their concerns and needs.
The neighborhood consists of about 150 rental properties located off Vincent Drive in northwestern Clarke County. The community is nearly evenly divided between African-American and Hispanic families.
"There has been some tension between African Americans and Hispanics living in the area, and that's an issue many of the residents would like to see alleviated," Gaudin says.
The center is located in a small three-bedroom house provided free of charge by a UGA graduate who owns many of the area's rental properties. Other funding for the center came from grants from the rock band REM, the Franciscan Benevolent Fund, the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the School of Social Work. Gaudin also has submitted a request for funding from the University System Board of Regents P-16 Program. The additional funds would expand the center's work with students from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their school performance and success.
Building self-esteem
Between 20 and 30 youngsters come to the center each afternoon for help with their homework and to participate in activities designed to build self-esteem. A parenting group also is being developed.
"Many of the parents are quite young and want to learn some effective ways to manage their children's behavior," Gaudin says. A UGA landscape architecture graduate student is helping to develop a playground, and work is under way to begin a Girl Scout troop, Gaudin says.
"We're also looking forward to a visit by Michael Barrero from the University of Connecticut to help us deal with incipient adolescent gangs in Garnett Ridge," he says. "At this point, the problems aren't severe, but we would like to learn how to work effectively with these young people before any serious problems develop."
Brown and the other students working at the center have identified community members to serve as "block leaders." These leaders will help the university students conduct a community assets and needs survey, which will identify the knowledge and skills already present in the community that can be used to its benefit. The leaders will also help ensure that the community knows what programs are being offered by the center.
Other student involvement
While social work students are providing much of the day-to-day support for the center, which is open each afternoon and evening, students from other parts of the university also are quite active, Gaudin says.
"We've had a number of students from the Catholic Center on campus," he says, "and students from the Romance languages department helped the kids perform a play at the Christmas party for the neighborhood."
As the center grows, Gaudin hopes the neighborhood will gain more sense of ownership of the family-support center.
"We would like to see greater communication and collaboration between the Hispanics and the African Americans," he says. "Ultimately, we hope the center--and the community--will be governed by the residents of Garnett Ridge."
