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Box 3, Folder 15, Document 25
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Com LUAIty
Council of the |
Atlanta
EUGENE T. BRANCH, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Area INC. DUANE W. BECK, Executive Director ALENE F. UHRY, Editor
1000 GLENN BUILDING,120 MARIETTA STREET, N.W. ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 TELEPHONE 577-2250
January, 1970
he ie ar Ae) ae eae CO a
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 activities 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:
1G 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
The 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 Develop-
ment Project.
ie 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 coordi-
nation 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 fun@=
tion. [It has determined to work first on developing resources 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 Administration's Family Assis-
tance 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 unmet
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 information and referral service, This facility is being operated at
the present time entirely by volunteers, The Center can meet a great need
and we'll keep you up to date on its activities in Communique.
(d) Interagency Council on Alcohol and 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 Legisla-
tion, 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.0.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 organi-
zations, Agencies are requesting assistance in reviewing their programs;
neighborhoods are seeking assistance in the drafting of proposals for
resident-determined programs; and civic organizations are asking for sugges-
tions 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, accumu-
lated 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 the Council can perform.
Program Development
During the early part of 1970, we expect to organize a Program Develop-
ment 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 acti-
vities 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,
Com LUAIty
Council of the |
Atlanta
EUGENE T. BRANCH, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Area INC. DUANE W. BECK, Executive Director ALENE F. UHRY, Editor
1000 GLENN BUILDING,120 MARIETTA STREET, N.W. ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 TELEPHONE 577-2250
January, 1970
he ie ar Ae) ae eae CO a
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 activities 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:
1G 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
The 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 Develop-
ment Project.
ie 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 coordi-
nation 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 fun@=
tion. [It has determined to work first on developing resources 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 Administration's Family Assis-
tance 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 unmet
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 information and referral service, This facility is being operated at
the present time entirely by volunteers, The Center can meet a great need
and we'll keep you up to date on its activities in Communique.
(d) Interagency Council on Alcohol and 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 Legisla-
tion, 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.0.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 organi-
zations, Agencies are requesting assistance in reviewing their programs;
neighborhoods are seeking assistance in the drafting of proposals for
resident-determined programs; and civic organizations are asking for sugges-
tions 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, accumu-
lated 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 the Council can perform.
Program Development
During the early part of 1970, we expect to organize a Program Develop-
ment 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 acti-
vities 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,
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