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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, June 22,2022
No One Alone envisions new shelter
to serve victims of domestic violence
Photo submitted to DCN
This is No One Alone's current shelter in Lumpkin County.The new shelter will also be located in that county.
'It's about getting people to join and be
the change. If everybody gives $5 or
$10, we would be set/
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
For Dawson County victims
of family violence, local non
profit organization No One
Alone is the only program of its
kind.
The nonprofit serves Dawson
and Lumpkin counties. NOA’s
24/7 crisis line can be reached
at 706-864-1986.
The crisis line was started in
1986. Its shelter, which was
started in 1992, is state certified
by the Governor’s Office for
Children and Families and has
a maximum capacity of 12
beds.
“NOA has been fortunate in
that our current shelter is gra
ciously donated by the
Lumpkin County Board of
Commissioners,” NOA
Executive Director Cara
Ledford wrote in an open letter.
“While we are very thankful to
have had this facility to call our
shelter for over 20 years, we
are bursting at the seams as this
shelter is a very small house
with three bedrooms and two
bathrooms to share between 12
women and children.”
Ledford said NOA envisions
an “inviting shelter” with sepa
rate rooms for single women
and women with children, as
well as dedicated spaces for
counseling and children’s, life
skills and parenting program
ming.
NOA saw an increased need
between Dawson and Lumpkin
counties, providing emergency
and support services to over
1,700 people in 2021, accord
ing to the nonprofit’s statistics
Cara Ledford
NOA executive director
report.
That’s up from the usual
amount of 1,200 or so, said
Ledford.
She called the pandemic’s
impact “detrimental” to people
stuck at home, particularly
“kids stuck at home with their
abusers.”
The shelter housed 102 peo
ple for a total of 3,100 bed
nights, an average stay of 60
days per guest. Thirty victims
were housed in hotels due to
lack of space.
Over the course of last year,
NOA advocates responded to
3,289 calls to its crisis line.
Ledford also explained that
with the aftermath of the
COVID-19 pandemic, NOA
helped people out financially,
for a total of $194,919 in client
aid.
In addition to the crisis line
and shelter, the nonprofit offers
services including individual
and group counseling, case
management, legal advocacy,
children’s programs and play
therapy, home visits, financial
assistance, parenting classes
and school prevention pro
grams, according to their web
site.
Likewise, NOA’s bargain
shop, Southern Finds in
Dahlonega, provided direct cli
ent assistance of furniture,
clothing and household items to
287 “at-risk” families.
“Truly to me, it [NOA] is
vital because we’re the only
one that does this,” Ledford
said.
In order to better serve the
needs of clients in both coun
ties, NOA has purchased land
for a new shelter and started a
capital campaign to collect
funds for the project.
During her interview with
DCN, Ledford said NOA “real
ly needs the community’s sup
port” and challenged people to
donate regularly.
“It’s about getting people to
join and be the change,” she
said. “If everybody gives $5 or
$10, we would be set.”
NOA will host a “Beef and
Pork BBQ Blast” fundraiser
July 23 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at
the Lumpkin County Parks and
Recreation, located at 365
Riley Road. The event is spon
sored by the Lumpkin County
Sheriff’s Office. More details
are available at https://noone-
alone.org/bbq/.
For more information about
how you can support NOA,
please visit www.noonealone.
org under the “I Want to Help”
tab. Community members have
various options to contribute
ranging from donating money
and necessities to donating
their time with the organiza
tion.
Lions Club donates $2K
to Good Shepherd Clinic
By staff reports
On June 2, the Dawsonville
Lions Club donated $2000 to
the Good Shepherd Clinic in
Dawsonville, to benefit the
vision and hearing services
offered by the clinic.
Kay Parrish, the Good
Shepherd Clinic’s executive
director, accepted the check
from Lions Club Treasurer
Martha Holbrook. Also at the
presentation were several mem
bers of the club and Georgia
Lions Lighthouse Liaison Fran
Schefer.
Dawsonville Lions Charities,
Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization
that supports financial contri
butions and referrals for the
needy to Georgia Lions
Lighthouse for more serious
eye care, free eye exams, eye
glasses and free hearing aid
assistance.
On June 2,
the
Dawsonville
Lions Club
donated
$2000 to
the Good
Shepherd
Clinic.
Photo courtesy
of Margaret
Johnson
Anonymous donor honors frontline workers
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
North Georgia Medical
Center visitors can now
view original artwork,
commissioned by an
anonymous donor and
honoring frontline staff
for their bravery during
the height of the COVID-
19 pandemic.
According to a press
release by North Georgia
Medical Center (NGMC),
the artwork was painted
by French artist Alexis Le
Borgne and is entitled
“Plus Que Les Mots”,
English for “More than
Words”. The painting
reflects the “trauma, loss,
compassion and hope of
frontline workers during
the pandemic”, the
release said.
“Frontline staff give
their all to their patients,”
Pierpont “Pepper”
Brown, general surgeon
at NGMC and chair of the
Northeast Georgia Health
System Foundation, said
in the release. “They live
and breathe for them and
we are grateful for their
dedication and compas
sion during the pandemic
and beyond. This gener
ous donor was moved by
those qualities and recog
nized them with this gift.
We hope that each visitor
to the Gainesville campus
will see the painting and
reflect on the feelings dis
played there.”
The original artwork is
on display at the
Gainesville campus of
NGMC, and copies can
also be seen at the other
NGMC campuses in
Braselton, Dahlonega and
Barrow. To learn more
about how you can honor
frontline workers, go to
nghs.com/foundation.
Photo courtesy of North Georgia Medical Center
Left to right: Pierpont "Pepper" Brown, surgeon for Northeast Georgia Medical Center and chair of
Northeast Georgia Health System Foundation; Carol Burrell, president and CEO of Northeast Georgia
Health System; Megan Martin; Chris Bray, president and chief development officer of Northeast
Georgia Health System Foundation.
U.S. Postal Service rolls out USPS Connect in Ga.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
This week, the U.S. Postal Service
(USPS) officially launched USPS
Connect, a program offering new, afford
able package and document delivery
options and expanding next-day delivery
options for businesses.
According to a press release by the
organization, USPS Connect is a set of
four delivery solutions that use ongoing
network improvements, new equipment
and pricing to meet the ever-evolving
package delivery needs for businesses.
“USPS Connect provides businesses of
all sizes what they have been asking for
— an affordable way to meet consumer
demand for fast delivery,” Postmaster
General and CEO Louis DeJoy said in
the release. “A pivotal point in our
‘Delivering for America’ plan, it posi
tions us to more fully leverage our net
work capacity to increase volume and
revenue so we can continue to serve the
American people with affordable, reli
able mail and package delivery.”
Georgia is one of several states in the
U.S. to make one of the four solutions,
USPS Connect Local, available in select
locations. According to the release, these
select locations include the Dawsonville
Post Office, located at 452 Highway 53
East.
According to the release, USPS
Connect Local offers next-day service in
all locations, with same-day delivery,
Sunday delivery and pickup options in
select locations. Businesses can enter
USPS Connect Local packages and mail
at the receiving dock of the disunited
postal facility or use free en-route pickup
when the mail carrier delivers their mail.
In addition to USPS Connect Local,
the other three business solutions in the
USPS Connect program are:
USPS Connect Regional: next-day
regional entry and delivery of Parcel
Select and Parcel Select Lightweight
packages.
USPS Connection National: reliable
package delivery through First-Class
Package Service, Parcel Select Ground
and Retail Ground.
USPS Connect Returns: a service for
businesses to offer their customers con
venient returns through free en-route
pickup by their mail carrier or drop-off at
a nearby post office.
“We’ve listened carefully to our busi
ness customers to develop this program,”
Chief Commerce and Business Solutions
Officer Jakki Krage Strako said in the
release. “We’re increasing next-day
deliveries. We’re also giving smaller
businesses big-business rates and all
businesses more user-friendly ways to
interact with us.”
Business owners interested in learning
more about the program can go to usp-
sconnect.com, call 855-698-7772, or
email uspsconnect@usps.gov.
