Each year, the Community Foundation of Coffee County is able to award nonprofit organizations with funds at a special event. This year, the organization was able to provide awards to Still Waters Women’s Outreach Center, the Wesley Glynn Foundation, the Make a Wish Foundation, and the Mary Hayes Center for Social Change. Each organization that was chosen to receive an award gives back to the community in a special way.
Still Waters Women’s Outreach Center extends a helping hand to women in Coffee County and surrounding areas that are in need of rehabilitation and support when struggling with drug dependency or abuse. JoAnne Lewis, operator of Still Waters, spoke of the wonderful services the center has been able to provide for local women. Over 40 women have entered into the program and, since it opened in December 2014, eight women have graduated the program. These women have reentered into the work force, have their own homes, most have their own cars, and some even become reunited with family and children as they turn their lives completely around.Still Waters is able to provide each woman a bed, meals, clothing, faith-based fellowship, and, most of all, support.
“If you could only see what God is doing at our facility,” said Joanne Lewis after describing the transformation she has seen in the lives of the women Still Waters has helped.
She has big plans for Still Waters and is hoping to expand the facility to allow for more women to take advantage of the program. The Community Foundation of Coffee County awarded Still Waters with $2500, which just might help JoAnne Lewis achieve her goals for the facility and the women she helps.
Eight hundred and fifty dollars was awarded to the Wesley Glynn Foundation, an affiliate of the United Methodist Church, to go towards rocking chairs for their facility. The Wesley Glynn Foundation works to care for adults living with disabilities, providing homes and assistance in day-to-day life. Established in 1984, the foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Macon and owns 10 homes for disabled adults throughout Georgia. A 12-unit apartment in Douglas houses eight residents in the area who are active in the Methodist Church and live fulfilling lives thanks to the foundation. The $850 donation is going towards eight rocking chairs, one for each resident, a product that will add enrichment to their lives for years to come.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation helps to make dreams come true for children battling life-threatening diseases, and they received $1200 from the Community Foundation of Coffee County. This money will go directly to a local terminally ill boy or girl from the Coffee County area.
Margot Perkins of the Georgia division of the Make-a-Wish Foundation accepted the donation on behalf of the organization, speaking about the work that the organization does. Each wish recipient must be between the ages of 2 ½ and 18 years of age and must be suffering from a progressive, degenerative, or malignant disorder as diagnosed by a doctor. Recipients are usually referred to the organization by social services, but also by doctors and sometimes by the children themselves! The wishes that are granted prove time and again to be a memorable and joyous experience for the child and their family.
Make-a-Wish makes sure that families are worry-free during the entire experience, providing spending money, planning the trips, and taking care of all logistics involved. There are currently eight pending wishes in Coffee County – six in Douglas and two in Nicholls. Not all wishes get granted, but the Georgia division of the organization is planning to make it happen for 400 wishes of the 600 currently in their pipeline.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation works to provide a magical experience to children and their families who may be going through a tragic time in their lives. With the donation from the Community Foundation of Coffee County, the Make-a-Wish Foundation can help make that happen for a child in our area.
The Community Foundation of Coffee County donated $2500 to the Mary Hayes Center for Social Change to help update the facility with new computers and educational material. The center is able to provide after school activities and educational tools to at-risk children of the Coffee County area and has been doing so since it was opened in 1991.
Gwendolyn Reliford retired after over 30 years of service in the educational system in 1997 and began working at the Mary Hayes Center for Social Change that year, and she spoke about the assistance the center offers children in our area. They receive educational assistance, emotional support and receive praise for achievements. They work on basic test taking skills, work on homework, and even have bible studies on Thursdays. Anti-drug and anti-bullying initiatives are supported at the center, as well creative expression through song and dance.
The students who take advantage of the center see improvements in all areas of life, and the majority of these students achieve honor roll status at their schools. George Blanpied of the Mary Hayes Center for Social Change described the need for newer technology that the center is facing. They are currently using donated technology from local institutions and it is very dated, making it difficult to use for the students at the center. The donation they received will go towards updating the technology and boosting the success of the students that are already thriving from the educational support at the Mary Hayes Center.
The Community Fund of Coffee County also welcomed new members Joan Zimmer, Lindsay Day, and Thad Carter, who is a returning member.