Fatum Brothers' Jazz Orchestra

On Thursday, August 4th, Twin Cedars held a fundraiser featuring an evening of big band jazz with The Fatum Brothers' Jazz Orchestra. As a part of the group's third summer jazz tour, they performed in Columbus for one night only to help Twin Cedars Youth & Family Services kick start its fundraising campaign for the new Dorothy Wells Knight Community Counseling Center.

Michael and John Fatum, leaders of the orchestra have strong family ties to Columbus and are the great-nephews of the late Dorothy Wells Knight.

We would like to thank the FBJO and our supporting sponsors for making this event possible. 

Etched in our memories forever will be the horrific events of 9/11. Each year in New York, our country commemorates those who were lost by the annual reading of the names of the more than 2,700 victims. Even though the majority of our residents living at the Bradfield Center are too young to recall the events, they too wished to pay tribute. Through their own special ceremony, residents gained a greater understanding during this Day of Remembrance through personal stories and prayers shared by Bradfield staff. A balloon release concluded the event.

 Program Director, Dr. Kim Bond commented, "I was so impressed with the attention and respect all the students were giving - they were so young with this happened, yet they appeared to be so touched by today's ceremony."

A special thank you to Etta Billinglea, Mary Banks and other team members for making this event possible.

Ministry Group Makes EXTREME difference to those

living at the Georgia Industrial Children's Home

Jeff Huey and Jason Jones from Extreme Ministries pictured with GICH Program Director Linda Finley

As you might recall, Jeff and Jason along with a team of volunteers from Extreme Ministries, visited the GICH last summer to assist with needed renovations at the North Mumford Road campus. Improvements included the renovation of bathrooms, the completion of a building, a new deck for Lions Cottage as well as the construction of 5 new picnic tables.

This summer, the group returned to build on those efforts. While no construction was involved, it did take a team of staff members and volunteers several hours to unload an 18 wheeler full of bottled water and clothing. We are so grateful for the volunteers from Extreme Ministries who, year after year, support our work that began over 150 years ago!

Earlier this month, Annelise Walley, accompanied by the band Home Brew, performed in Auburn, Alabama, to raise needed funds for Twin Cedars' newly established Lee County CASA program. Launched in January of 2011, Lee County CASA has recently completed training its first class of volunteers and will be serving children in the coming weeks!

During the on-site review, accreditation team members interviewed:

-11 TCYFS Administrators & Leadership Team Members

 -9 Teachers & Para-Professionals

 -12 Related Agency Support Staff

-11 Parents and Board and Community Members

-12 Students

TOTAL Stakeholders 55

Made 9 classroom visits to observe instruction

Ault Academy Education Coordinator, Etta Billingslea, shared, "The SACS process was both challenging and rewarding. It was challenging in that our education team was required to continue its rigid schedule of educating the youth of Ault Academy, while spending long hours before and after school writing and gathering evidence and artifacts to prove our worthiness to be a SACS accredited school. It was a rewarding experience for the education team as we discovered each other's hidden gifts and talents. We came together as a cohesive team that overcame the barriers of being small (11 staff members) and limited in the area of SACS experience (most of the staff had never been through the process while the rest of us experienced that the process had been completely overhauled.) The education team took on the process with the STUDENTS as our motivation. We believe that "Kids don't care what you know until they know you care". We proudly claim to be the "Best Little School in the State of Georgia."     

Ault Academy was established in 1999 at Bradfield Center to ensure that residents would have the ability to continue their education while recovering from abuse and neglect. Today, there are only 23 residential schools in Georgia. 

Last year, the Anne Elizabeth Shepherd Home Auxiliary lost one of its most active and respected members; Mrs. Mary Chappell. 

While she can no longer be with us, her memory lives on through the newly created Mary Chappell Educational Scholarship. 

Last Saturday, the women of the Anne Elizabeth Shepherd Home Auxiliary awarded the very first scholarship to Evelin Venega. 

Evelin, who plans to attend college next month will utilize the funds to pay for her first semester of tuition. 

Evelin shared, "Going to college will be a new beginning in my life. There are so many people that have supported me through my time in care. My goal is to give back by helping young people that are struggling through care to achieve the accomplishments I have achieved."

Evelin will major in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology.