Neighborhood Leaders prove vital to connecting families with area resources

FC-CIS Executive Director Tim Johnson says part of the organization’s approach in addressing community needs is engaging parents and other caregivers in the highest poverty neighborhoods- not only to give input- but as full partners in the work.

These Neighborhood Leaders are at the table doing community planning with other experts and sharing their own expertise with the school district, university, public health people and so on.

That neighborhood, on the ground knowledge, is essential to addressing issues that families in Athens-Clarke County face. And the Neighborhood Leaders are not only bringing that expertise back to FC-CIS but also going back into the neighborhoods and connecting families to resources.

Neighborhood Leaders are the most important on-the-ground education providers, according to Tim.

“We were pioneers in engaging families in those leadership roles, and we use the word ‘leaders’ intentionally,” he says. “We certainly see them as full partners, and the design is such that they are full partners. But they are guiding us as a community in what they need to be doing, so they are our leaders and not the other way around.”

To find out more about the Neighborhood Leaders and their work in Athens-Clarke County, please watch the video.

We also invite you to visit our Neighborhood Leaders page.