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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, September 7,2022
Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News
Students and staff at Kilough Elementary School, along with representatives from the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce and the Dawson County
Woman's Club, cut the ribbon on the school's new lending library.
Lending library at Kilough Elementary opens
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
On Tuesday Aug. 30, the
Dawson County Woman’s
Club and the Dawson
County Chamber of
Commerce officially cut
the ribbon on the new lend
ing library at Kilough
Elementary School.
The little lending library
sits outside of the elemen
tary school and contains
books for a variety of read
ing levels and about a vari
ety of subjects. Children in
the community who come
to the library will be
encouraged to take a book
home to read and leave
another book for others to
borrow.
“It’s all about loving to
read; as my dad would say,
‘if you love to read you’re
never lonely’,” Woman’s
Club member MG Finch
explained to dozens of
Kilough’s students during
the ribbon cutting ceremo
ny.
According to Finch, the
library was funded in mem
ory of Woman’s Club
member Helen Taylor, who
passed away but whose
love of reading will live on
through projects like the
lending library.
The lending library was
designed and built in great
part by Kilough’s media
specialist, Kristi Bearden,
and the school resource
officer, Officer Grizzle,
KES Principal Teresa
Conowal said.
“Kristi is just amazing at
creating things and Officer
Grizzle helped us design
and build it in partnership
with her,” Conowal said. “I
want to thank the Dawson
County Woman’s Club, the
Chamber of Commerce
and all the partners that
spent a lot of time making
this happen for us.”
Before cutting the ribbon
on the new library, Dawson
County Chamber of
Commerce President and
CEO Mandy Power
encouraged the students in
attendance to make use of
the library and congratulat
ed the school and the
Woman’s Club on bringing
the project to fruition.
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Representatives from the Dawson County Woman's Club stand with Kilough Elementary School's new
lending library, which was funded by the club in memory of late member HelenTaylor.
“We are so excited to be Kilough Elementary,” ing library right here!” Kilough Elementary
here to celebrate such an Power said. “Now you The new lending library School, 1063 Kilough
awesome new addition to have your very own lend- is located in front of Church Road.
Rides to Remember event returning to AMP Sept. 10
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
This weekend, Rides to
Remember will return to Atlanta
Motorsports Park in
Dawsonville, aimed at providing
a day of fun and bringing a smile
to the faces of childhood cancer
patients and their families.
The annual event serves to pro
vide financial support to three
area charities: Camp Sunshine,
Atlanta Ronald McDonald
House and CURE Childhood
Cancer. During the event, child
hood cancer patients are driven
around the AMP racetrack in
Ferraris, Maseratis and other
exotic luxury vehicles.
This year’s event will mark the
16th year of Rides to Remember,
and for the first time, the top
earners in the charity event will
get to ride shotgun during the
final laps with a renowned
Ferrari race car driver, dubbed
“The Pony” in a play on a myste
rious driver from a popular
British television show.
According to a press release, the
competition to ride with The
Pony will pit Rides to Remember
drivers and major fundraisers
against each other to help raise
$200,000 for the three charities.
“The addition of The Pony will
bring even more smiles to the
children that deserve it most,”
Ferrari of Atlanta General Sales
Manager Craig Forbes said in the
release. “We are always looking
for ways to make the day as spe
cial as possible while helping us
reach our fundraising goal of
$200,000. We look forward to
The Pony’s debut and to our win
ners and attendees finding out
who is really behind the wheel.”
The Pony’s identity will be
revealed during the Rides to
Remember event.
Rides to Remember will take
place at AMP on Sept. 10.
Participants will check in
beginning at 9 a.m., drivers will
arrive at 10 a.m. and the clos
ing ceremony and pony laps
will be at 12:30 p.m. Lunch
will also be served by Ruby’s
Recipes and Loaded Burger
food trucks.
For more information about
Rides to Remember, go to
https ://ridestoremember.org/.
Need for more foster, respite homes persists in Dawson County
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Of the 56 local children in
foster care, only one could stay
in Dawson County due to a lack
of available foster homes and
families, said Sarah Swann with
the Dawson County Division of
Children and Family Services.
There are currently three open
homes in the whole county, 10
total beds, to cover the needs of
children entering foster care in
Dawson County, said DCFS
Caregiver Recruitment and
Retention Unit Case Manager
Autumn Horsley.
Kelsey Harrison, the Director
of Support Services for
Dawson-based nonprofit The
Way Home, called the reloca
tion of children “a barrier to
partnership parenting and, there
fore, a significant impediment to
reunification.”
The Way Home has joined
other area nonprofit organiza
tions in spreading awareness
about local foster and respite
needs through recent meetings
and events.
Homes are needed in Dawson
County for teenagers, sibling
groups and for emergency and
respite care situations, Harrison
explained in an email to DCN.
“Teenagers, sibling groups,
and medically fragile children
are historically ‘difficult to
place,”’ Harrison said. “We need
foster families who will readily
accept placements of this
nature.”
With a similar lack of licensed
respite families, foster parents
who often already look after
long-term placements of their
own are having to provide
respite care for other families.
That “increases the potential
for burnout and compassion
fatigue” and relegates foster
families to having to use respite
care in neighboring counties.
Whenever possible, the goal is
to keep children with people
they know in order to support
feelings of connection and felt-
safety, thus serving to minimize
trauma, she added.
Nonprofit background
Harrison shared that she and
the organization’s founder, Julia
Fleming, both fostered and
adopted through foster care.
“In many ways, through The
Way Home, we are simply
endeavoring to ‘fill the gaps’ in
resources, relationships, and
support services (like training,
coaching, and counseling),”
Harrison said. “That is to say,
reflecting on 10-plus years of
experience with children from
hard places is the driving force
behind what we seek to offer.”
The Way Home got plugged
in with Dawson County DFCS
several months ago when
Rebecca Bliss with Family
Connection invited them to a
meeting, followed by the July
“Family Fair” event at
Dawsonville’s Main Street Park.
Harrison was recently offered
and accepted a position as the
Family Connection board’s non
profit representative. She
explained that The Way Home
considers the needs of children
and their foster and biological
families in its approach.
“We believe that when people
are aware of the needs in our
community, they will rise to the
occasion of meeting those
needs,” Harrison said.
In addition to recruiting and
supporting foster and respite
parents, The Way Home’s goals
in Dawson County include pro
moting reunification; providing
caregivers with training, coun
seling and creative wellness
group services; and providing
the support necessary for fami
lies with CPS involvement.
For the nonprofit, that also
means actively working to shift
the negative narrative often
associated with foster care and
creating ways for people to use
their abilities to serve families.
“We recognize that not every
one can take placement of foster
children, but we wholeheartedly
believe that, when it comes to
supporting foster children and
the families who love them,
everyone has a part to play,”
Harrison added.
How to help
People can help local chil
dren in need individually or as
part of a larger group.
One option is to write a check
designated to Dawson County
Family Connection. Donation
checks can be mailed to:
Dawson County Family
Connection, PO Box 82,
Dawsonville, GA 30534.
Another way is to take part
in The Way Home’s annual fall
fundraiser, scheduled for
Thursday, Sept. 22 from 7-9
p.m. at Accent Cellars in
Dahlonega. Fundraiser oppor
tunities will include table spon
sorships and donating goods
and services for silent auction
baskets.
Other activities will be a raf
fle; live music, dessert, coffee
and wine; and a pop-up bou
tique.
People are also welcome to
attend to learn more about the
nonprofit and how to get
involved.
General admission is free, and
VIP tickets are available for pur
chase. Details can be found at
www.thewayhome.us or by
emailing social @thewayhome.us
with any questions.
All proceeds will go toward
hosting free community events
and providing tangible resources
and support services for foster
children and their foster, adop
tive, and biological families.
Those interested in becoming
a foster and/or respite family can
contact either Autumn Horsley at
(706) 502-4682. They can also
contact Kelsey Harrison at (770)
315-3383 or kelsey@theway-
home.us.
Churches who want to get
involved in helping can sign up
with nonprofit Project686’s
CarePortal, a faith-based support
network for vulnerable children
and families.
For more information on that
option, you can go to project686.
org or contact FAM Specialist
and CarePortal Regional
Manager Jean Rector at (678)
984-3220 or jean@promise686.
org.