Dear Visitor,
As we enter the holiday season, we
would like to offer you warm wishes for a happy new year and remind
you of the good that individuals like yourself have done to serve
the community through our organization. With this said, read
and enjoy....
|
The Spirit of Generosity
Remembering Jane Eve
Wilheit
 As a celebration of God's ultimate gift to the
world, the season of Christmas is synonymous with the spirit of
giving. The Wise Men with gifts for the Christ-child, St. Nicholas
with toys for children, the church caring for the poor; each of
these exemplifies how we continue the legacy of giving in Christ's
name. In Gainesville, this spirit of generosity was most exemplified
in Jane Eve Wilheit (1916-2007).
This remarkable lady
made helping others and improving community her life's
mission. Center Point was fortunate to be a benefactor of her
energy and generosity. She believed in the mission of
the agency and was delighted with its growth. Center Point's
Counseling Services were especially close to her heart.
She wanted to ensure that mental health services were readily
available for children and families in Hall County.
We are
indebted to Jane Eve for gifts throughout her life, and her generous
bequest providing for continued financial support of the Center and
its future.
|
40th Anniversary Celebration
 Two hundred and fifty people attended the
Center's 40th Anniversary banquet on October 18th at First
Presbyterian's Swetenburg Hall. The Center's past, present,
and future were highlighted by Philip Wilheit who served as Master
of Ceremony.
 Representatives from each of the Center's
programs spoke of the impact these services have had in their
lives. As the program concluded Philip challenged everyone
present to give generously to ensure the continued success of Center
Point. Donations to date total $22,000 with a goal of reaching
$25,000. Additional contributions are welcome.
|
Religious Education
Taking Steps Toward
Accreditation and Expansion
Last February we made public our
intention of pursing accreditation through SACS CASI. Nine
months later, we are happy to report that, after thorough 3rd-party
review, we were recommended by our visiting committee for
accreditation. This recommendation will make its way to the state
and national level for final approval. As SACS CASI is quick
to point out, "[a]n accredited school is one that has demonstrated
its commitment to meeting a set of research-based standards; to
engaging in a program of continuous school improvement; and to
providing for quality assurance through self-evaluation and peer
review." We are hopeful that this change in status--a status
and standard equal to that of the best public and private
schools--will allow us to enlarge the number of students that we
serve. This is especially true with respect to our religious
education program, where, by virtue of granting students school
credit for classes taken, accreditation is crucial.
(continued)
In the near future, we hope to expand the
religious education program by offering online courses. With
the cooperation of the Hall County Board of Education, such courses
would be available to all Hall County
students.
|
Online Courses Survey
As mentioned
above, Center Point is exploring the possibility of bringing its
religious education program to more Hall County students through the
medium of online classes. We value your input, and ask that
you help guide our actions by taking our five-question survey.
|
Mentoring
Reflecting on the Past, Anticipating the
Future
2007 was an exciting year for the Mentor
Program. Due to the generous donations of our supporters, the mentor
program launched an exciting new PR Campaign to recruit new adult
volunteers to become mentors to at-risk students in Gainesville City
and Hall County Schools. The "Be Someone's Hero" campaign has been
very successful, generating enthusiasm in the community and raising
awareness of the need for mentors. In the Fall 2007 semester alone
we have recruited, trained, and placed over 100
mentors. However, we continue to need volunteers to meet the growing
needs of our students. In 2008, we will continue the "Be
Someone's Hero" campaign as we recruit new mentors for
our program, as well as expand the scope to include additional
materials to be distributed by individual schools to local
businesses and partners in education. With your continued support,
we look forward to another fruitful
year.
|
Counseling
Reaching Out to the Community
This year, the counseling
staff has been providing individual and group counseling at schools
across the county. At the Center, our staff has been working
with individual adolescents and adults, adolescent siblings,
couples, mothers and daughters, and families. Currently,
counselors are helping clients to improve communication, lessen
anxiety, resolve relationship problems, increase self-esteem,
address spiritual concerns, alleviate symptoms of depression,
trouble shoot stress, assist in divorce recovery, discover more
effective parenting skills, manage anger, advance social skills, and
progress academically.
 Fall Firsts -In October, our staff of
interns responded to a community request to conduct a teacher
workshop at the Gainesville Learning Academy (GLA). Topics
presented and discussed included externalizing/internalizing
behaviors, disorders that meet the criteria of a mental disorder as
defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), and
interventions. This month, Robert Tucker, University of
Georgia, will work with Eileen Toledo at GLA and present a parent
workshop. This is the beginning of five parent workshops the
interns will be facilitating this year. Both endeavors are a
first for Center Point interns.
|
Prevention
Helping Students Make
Healthy Lifestyle Decisions
So far this year, we have
reached 2,000 youth with prevention messages through media literacy
in the middle and high schools. Power Teams are in full
swing with 53 youth learning leadership skills and working on
behavior and academic goals. SWAT (Students Working
Against Tobacco) have conducted several activities. For Great
American Smoke Out in November, the Power Teams and SWAT teams
conducted a second hand smoke awareness program. In all the
middle schools, they sent home with 3,300 youth a prevention
pamphlet to parents to making them aware of the dangers of smoking
around children. At Flowery Branch High School for Great
American Smoke Out, the SWAT team gave out approximately 1,200
prevention bracelets to students and at the football game on
November 16th, the team conducted a pre-game awareness program on
second hand smoke.
|
The Spirit of Thankfulness
The
Apostle Paul captures the idea of thankfulness when he said "it is
right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in
my heart." We are grateful for all of your support and
we hold you in our hearts as we serve the children and families in
this community.
Faithfully Yours,
The Center Point Board and
Staff
|
2007 Wish List
 Religious Education
Textbooks ($50 each, 64 needed)
Counseling
Materials for Group Therapy ($80, $100, $22, and $53)
Mentoring
Training
Manuals ($15 each, continual need)
Prevention
Printing
of Spanish Language Booklets ($1000)
Center Point is a 501 (c) (3)
non-profit youth-development organization. As such, its operations
depend on the goodwill of its donors. We ask for your special
consideration and encourage you to donate, using the button below.
All donations are tax deductible. Thank you for your
support.
|
| |
