About Us

Controlled at the community level, Family Connection is present in every county in Georgia. It is the largest statewide network of communities in the nation that have made a commitment to improve results for children and families.

Hall County Family Connection Network hosts a bi-monthly collaborative meeting at which local agencies and nonprofits connect and collaborate to support children and families in Hall County. Contact hcfcn.director@gmail.com to learn more about our collaborative.

Mission:

We collaborate with individuals and organizations to ensure children and families in our community reach their full potential.

Learn more about our Collaborative Partners

Vision:

All Hall County children will become educated, healthy, safe, productive, and self-sufficient adults.

Our Board

Executive Committee:

Maria Calkins, Chair
Resident Services Coordinator, Gainesville Housing Authority
mcalkins@gainesvillehousing.org
404-358-3558

Phillippa Lewis Moss, Vice- Chair
Director, Gainesville-Hall County Community Services Center
pmoss@gainesville.org
770-503-3340

Jessica Dudley, Treasurer
President, United Way of Hall County
jdudley@unitedwayhallcounty.org

Christy Moore, Secretary
Northeast Georgia Health System
christy.moore@nghs.com

Jeremy Williams, HCFCN Fiscal Agent
Superintendent, Gainesville City Schools
jeremy.williams@gcssk12.net

Board of Directors:

Kevin Bales
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Hall County Schools
kevin.bales@hallco.org

Cynetia Banks
Gainesville Police Department, Retired
cynetiabanks48@gmail.com

Jessi Emmett
Director, Treatment Services, Northeastern Judicial Circuit (Hall and Dawson Counties)
jemmett@hallcounty.org
770-536-3837

Michael Fisher
Housing/Program Manager, Ninth District Opportunity
Michael.fisher@ndocsbg.org
(706) 348-3177

Latisha Flesher
Director, Hall County DFCS
Latisha.flesher@dhs.ga.gov
770-532-5298

Ken Gossage
Director, Good News at Noon
kgossage@goodnewsatnoon.org
678-617-2781

Sergeant Kevin Holbrook
Community Relations Unit, Gainesville Police Department
kholbrook@gainesville.org
770-535-5281

Cindy Levi
Chief Executive Officer, Avita Community Partners
cindy.levi@avitapartners.org
(678) 513-5700

Deborah Mack
Community Volunteer
dmack2344@att.net

Ryan Phagan
District Director, District 2, at Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice
RyanPhagan@djj.state.ga.us

Jennifer McCall
Attorney-at-Law
jennifer@mccallatlaw.com
770-532-9732

Pastor Stephen Samuel
St. John Baptist Church
pastorspsamuel@gmail.com
770-532-0511

Vanessa Sarazua
Executive Director
Hispanic Alliance GA
hispanicalliancega@gmail.com
678-779-9997

Our History

The Georgia County Collaborative Authority for Families and Children was created under the authority of Act 677, adopted March 27, 1998 and amended May 1, 2002 by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia. Designated as the local decision making body for prioritizing the needs of families and children, the Georgia Collaborative brings community partners together to develop, implement, and evaluate plans that address the serious challenges facing Georgia County’s children and families.

The Collaborative has positioned itself as a non-profit focusing on networking and relationships; connecting both the general public to partners and partners to each other. While there is no one sentence to explain what Georgia Collaborative does, the tag line says it all, “Helping People Help Others”.

About Georgia Family Connection

Georgia Family Connection is the only statewide network of its kind in the country with partners in all 159 counties working toward measurably better outcomes for our children, families, and communities. This gives us a unique vantage point—not only to see the big picture—but also to operate effectively at a local level.

We disentangle the mess of barriers, service gaps, and inefficiencies obscuring progress for our most vulnerable families. We do that by connecting our partners to resources, helping coordinate and manage efforts, and empowering our communities to craft local solutions based on local decisions.

Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP) represents and promotes Georgia Family Connection’s work, provides expertise in planning and governance, administers the state-appropriated funds for the local Collaboratives, sets standards of excellence, and helps Collaboratives evaluate their progress.

The state’s designated KIDS COUNT grantee, GaFCP also provides state agencies and policymakers with current, reliable data they need to inform decisions about improving conditions for the communities they serve.

Our Work

At Georgia Family Connection, we work to ensure that all children are healthy, primed for school, and succeed when they get there; families are stable, self-sufficient, and productive; and communities are vibrant, robust, and thriving.

None of these result areas stand in isolation. They overlap. By collaborating across sectors to address them, we nurture children and families who thrive in vibrant communities—everywhere. Because we work toward measurably better outcomes for everyone.