The Metro Times Atlanta August 2018 | Page 9

AUGUST 2018

MOM’ S CORNER

IT TAKES A VILLAGE …

FAMILY LIVING

If you have been to AWAKE Coffee Co, in Olde Town Conyers, chances are pretty high that you have seen at least one of our kiddos running around. You might see my son, wearing someone’ s motorcycle helmet or sitting at the coffee bar having a conversation. He’ s three years old. You will probably see my daughter being held by our friends because everyone loves to hold that sweet girl. She’ ll put a smile on your face. I am a firm believer that it does take a village to raise a child. My children are very well-behaved most of the time unless they are hungry or exhausted. Who can blame them? I’ m pretty snarky when I’ m hungry or tired too. I believe they are this way because we invite the help of our friends and family into the process of raising our children. I think God designed us for community because He knew each person would bring a different aspect to our lives. He knew we would need help.

I am not embarrassed when one of my friends firmly tells my son

WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY

Shivern Jeter, Director Foster Care Friends, Inc.

Foster Care Friends, Inc. is a 501( c)( 3) non-profit that has been created for providing resources for the foster care community. As our organization is expanding, we are excited that we are being presented with many opportunities to give more resources to the actual community, not just assisting with our foster homes.

For example, we are pleased to announce that we are now partnering with Cynthia O’ Neal, Director of Rockdale County Community Resources, which will allow us to serve more children. We are also accepting infant / toddler bedroom furniture, nursery items, diapers, personal hygiene items, clothing

It’ s no secret that we are living in divisive times. Whether the difference is political, racial, or religious, the truth of the matter is that communities are being torn apart because of differences. Even with our differences, there needs to be room for community development, empowerment, and good old fashion working together. In this issue that focuses on community, I would like all of us to adopt the concept of a salad bowl. That’ s right … a salad bowl.

Let’ s look at the makeup of a salad bowl. Many ingredients come together to make the salad look and taste good. No ingredient is more important than the other. No ingredient is overlooked. The ingredients are not trying to outshine other ingredients. In a real sense, donations as well as financial donations. Also, if you need any of these services, please contact us, to see how we may be of assistance to you.

It is also our pleasure to announce that we are now proud partners with the Red Cross! We are officially a“ Red Cross Licensed Training Provider.” We are providing First Aid / CPR / AED certifications. Registration is now open for classes for September. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone to get out or we can come to your location to provide training. We are inviting all daycares, schools, public and private and nursing homes to contact us for your training needs. We also offer a babysitting training course to help some of our younger clients to save lives should an incident occur. We offer class and individual training sessions. If you or your company happen to need a notary, we are also a certified notary location.

As always, we continue to assist in all your foster care transitional needs. We provide clothing for all ages( infant through adult sizes), bedroom furniture, personal hygiene items, toys( also, for Christmas), school supplies, car seats, and all things that your little ones might need. We continue to ask for your support as we continue to support our beautiful community! Give us a call if you have questions at 678-524-0689.

each ingredient has a purpose and its purpose is to add value and nutrition to the bowl.

As a community of different people with different ideologies, we need to co me together to enrich each other’ s lives. We do that by looking and seeing an individual as a human being with unique traits, qualities, and characteristics and not judging them based on stereotypes. Operating on stereotypes damages community relations and when that happens, nothing positive comes out of it. We shouldn’ t put labels on any person.

Here are some things we can do to help support our community:

Get to know one another as a person. We should not only know someone by their political, racial, or religious affiliation. Take interest in where they came from and what to stop doing something. He learns to listen to other authorities besides myself and his father. He learns the value of having many different trusted people speaking into his life. Just yesterday, I was told by Isaac, one of our friends that he had to firmly correct my son and afterwards my son was feeling hurt. Isaac knew that he needed to mend the relationship so he asked my son to help him bring bags of coffee into the shop from his car. He said my son worked hard, bringing bag after bag into the shop. We know there is value in letting our son learn from others. He’ s learning how to work within the context of relationship. I think that is pretty healthy!

The other day, as we were driving home at night and we drove by the coffee shop. My son said,“ Oh no … the coffee shop is dark … where are

By Dr. Sinclair N. Grey III

Did you know some people are one or two paychecks away from poverty? These individuals could be a member of our family, a neighbor who appears to have it all together, or a coworker. We might not be able to know about someone’ s well-being just by looking at them. Did you know some people are being released from jail and / or prison with nowhere to go and in many cases, devoid of any resources to get their life together?

In Covington, Georgia, the Garden of Gethsemane Homeless Shelter offers hope to those who believe that life has given up on them. Located at 7153 Turner Lake Circle, the shelter is the only shelter serving six counties( Walton, Newton, Rockdale, Morgan,

COMMUNITY IS LIKE A SALAD BOWL

By Dr. Sinclair N. Grey III

made them who they are today. Spend time with each other through community volunteerism. By volunteering, you’ re not only giving back to the community, you’ re working together for a common good Promote positivity. With so much negativity happening all around us,

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all the people?” I explained to him that the coffee shop closes at night and all the people are at home. He proceeded to ask me where each person was by name and we tried to figure out where they might be. He cares about every person in our community. He learns something new every day from different people.

Last weekend, my roommate, Alexandra, took the kids for the whole day so my husband and I could work on a project. She took them to Target( because that’ s what every mom does when it’ s raining outside) and then she took them to AWAKE. We had a conversation about her experience, and she said,“ I don’ t know how you guys do that every day.” We talked about how it is much easier when you have people helping. She agreed that you need community. You can raise a child without people but its a lot easier when you have the whole village helping you!

HOW A LOCAL HOMELESS SHELTER IS IMPACTING

LIVES

Butts, and Jasper).

The shelter houses both men, women, and children. Many of the residents are through the Georgia Re-entry Program. The length of stay is 90 days for nonviolent offenders. In addition to accepting individuals through this program, the shelter also offers emergency housing for 30 days for people who face eviction. It’ s important to know that all individuals who come to the shelter must do so by referral.

Individuals who live in the shelter are evaluated by qualified staff members. They are provided basic life skills to help them cope with mental and emotional issues. Without assuming anything, the shelter is committed to assisting individuals to achieve success.

Rev. Clara Lett is the founder and executive director of the Garden of Gethsemane Homeless Shelter. With a host of volunteers, Rev. Lett and the shelter are always looking for assistance. To learn more about the shelter, please call 770-787-8519.

let’ s rise above the status quo and share a positive word with someone. It could make all the difference in someone’ s life.

Just as a salad is healthy, so is a community that’ s vibrant, loving, and caring. Let’ s put aside anything that seems impossible and strive to make all things possible.

DANIEL S. DIGBY Attorney at Law

Daniel S. Digby & Associates, LLC 946 South Main St. NE, Conyers GA 30012

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: DSDIGBY @ BELLSOUTH. NET