MONDAY MEMO #24
- Resilient Georgia
- Mar 30
- 6 min read
Happy Monday and Happy Spring, Partners! As we prepare to welcome April, this week’s memo is filled with fresh resources and opportunities to support your work across Georgia. We're spotlighting tools related to Collective Impact, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI), parent and family resources, funding opportunities, professional development and training, and youth-focused initiatives. Before we dive in, here are a few updates and reminders from the Resilient Georgia Team:
RG UPDATES
March Power of Healing Blog Highlight: Living Authentically in Recovery: This month’s Power of Healing blog, curated by Jody Bogle, MPH, Senior Director of Community Engagement at Shatterproof, spotlights the inspiring voices of the Georgia Recovers Community Impact Committee (CIC). Through powerful firsthand accounts, CIC members share what authenticity, connection, and healing look like in their recovery journeys. Read the full blog to hear their voices and explore resources that connect trauma-informed care with recovery.
Regional Coalition Events: Coalition leaders, as a reminder, please submit your coalition trainings, summits, and partner activities here. We appreciate your support in keeping this webpage up-to-date!
Updated Resource: CRM One-Pager: We’ve updated our Community Resiliency Model one-pager—check out the latest version on our website here.
Upcoming Dates:
April Peer-to-Peer Network Meeting: Our next Peer-to-Peer meeting is TOMORROW April 1st at 2pm. We will have a panel of coalition leaders discussing Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change. Panelists will share practical strategies, highlight successes, and discuss barriers, followed by small group discussions. This is a session you don’t want to miss!
April RG Office Hours: Wednesday April 16th 4-5pm and Thursday April 17th 8-9am
As a reminder, we are cancelling April’s Coalition Update Calls to free up time in your schedule to attend the Virtual General Meeting on April 24th, so please feel free to utilize these optional touchpoints to connect with us for questions, concerns, or support!
Coalition Highlights
Cobb Collaborative is doing powerful work to support resilience and relationships in their community. Their recent blog posts spotlight Resiliency Week 2025, which featured events and activities promoting mental well-being, and the ELEVATE Couples Georgia program, which helps couples strengthen their relationships through evidence-based tools. Their blog is a great example of how to effectively share resources, celebrate local efforts, and keep partners and community members informed and engaged.
Resilient Communities of East Georgia: Child Enrichment, a key partner of the East Georgia coalition, is offering My Loved One & Me—a free, trauma-informed class for caregivers and their children ages 0–4. Held in partnership with The Basics, this 2-generation approach supports early development and family connection. The next class is on April 17th from 10:30–11:30 AM, with future dates on July 17th and October 23rd. Register for any session here.
Collective Impact
Backbone organizations play a crucial role in collective impact efforts, serving as the coordinating entity that brings together diverse stakeholders to drive systemic change. These organizations provide strategic guidance, facilitate collaboration, manage data collection, and ensure continuous communication among partners. A strong backbone organization can help coalitions navigate challenges, align efforts, and sustain long-term impact. Research highlights key practices for success, including clearly defining roles, fostering trust, and prioritizing adaptive leadership. To explore best practices and strategies for effective backbone organizations, check out Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact, Six
Proven Practices for Backbone Organizations, and Building Strong, Sustainable Backbone Leadership. Additionally, What Makes an Effective Coalition? provides insights into coalition-building strategies that complement the work of backbone organizations. Please share these resources with your coalition partners as you see fit!
Families and Parents
Big changes are coming to Georgia’s child support laws. — Resurgens Legal Counsel: Georgia's child support laws are undergoing significant changes aimed at creating more equitable arrangements for parents. Starting January 1, 2026, a mandatory parenting time adjustment will be implemented. This adjustment will account for the actual time each parent spends with their children, potentially reducing the non-custodial parent's support obligations in proportion to their parenting time. These reforms aim to better reflect the realities of shared parenting and ensure fairness in support calculations.
Community Resiliency Model (CRM) for Families: The Center for Interrelational Science and Pediatrics is offering a live 4-week parenting support workshop focused on the Community Resiliency Model (CRM). In this course, participants will meet for one hour each week in small groups to practice wellness skills that help manage stress and foster a more resilient, connected home environment. Enrollment is $35. Please share with your networks!
Funding
Georgia's Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA) Funding: Georgia DHS and Georgia DFCS, is now accepting proposals for funding innovative projects that aim to improve Georgia’s child protective services system. This opportunity supports initiatives aligned with CAPTA priority areas, including enhancing multidisciplinary investigations, improving intake and screening processes, training CPS workers and mandated reporters, preventing and treating child abuse and neglect, and fostering interagency collaboration. The contract period runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, with a maximum funding request of $200,000. Proposals are due by April 25, 2025, at 12:00 PM and must be submitted as a zip file to CAPTA@dhs.ga.gov. Applicants should submit only one email that includes all the information outlined in the Application Submission section at the time of submission. Click here for the FOA.
Mercer University Rehabilitation Services Long-Term Training Administration Grant This funding is now available for three semesters of Mercer University’s M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program. Mercer University received its second five-year Rehabilitation Services Administration long-term Training (RSA LTT) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant provides scholarships of up to 100% tuition coverage up to nine credit hours for three semesters of enrollment in Mercer’s Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program. Students with a strong desire to serve as clinical rehabilitation counselors are encouraged to apply. Candidates must be admitted to Mercer’s M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program to submit a scholarship application.
JEDI
Knock Out Stress: A Whole Health Experience for Black Men: Silence the Shame is hosting a Conversation and Care event sponsored by Georgia DBHDD this Wednesday, April 2nd from 6–8 PM at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE Center) in Atlanta. This free event will offer a guided boxercise session and open dialogue around mental health and self-care. The goal is to engage up to 50 Black men, ages 18+. Please share this opportunity with your networks and register here.
Immigrant Mental Health Support Resource: RG updated this recently created resource to support immigrant, refugee, and New American families’ mental health, recognizing the unique challenges they face, including disrupted family cohesion, discrimination, language barriers, and increased risks for PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It includes national and Georgia-specific resources, including immigration hotlines, legal advocacy organizations, and mental health support.
Professional Development and Training
Georgia Center for Child Advocacy's Prevention Palooza: April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy is hosting its annual Prevention Palooza—a month-long series of free virtual trainings, webinars, and in-person events designed to empower communities with tools to prevent child abuse.
Topics include ACEs, internet safety, human trafficking prevention, positive parenting, mandated reporting, and more. These sessions are open to caregivers, professionals, and community members looking to make a positive impact. Learn more and register for events here. A few upcoming highlights to share:
April 2nd 11am-12:30pm: Audrey Idaikkadar and our partners from Resilient Coastal Georgia, Vira Salzburn and Molly Lieberman, will be presenting on Fostering Resilient and Suicide-Safe Communities.
April 9th 12-1pm: Jill Alexander, lead partner from Wellroot Family Services/Resilient North Georgia, will be presenting on The Reaching Teens Model.
Training for Adoption Competency - GSU Professional Excellence Program: The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.™), in partnership with GSU, is now recruiting cohorts of the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) program. This 12-month, virtual postgraduate training equips mental health clinicians and master’s-level child welfare/adoption professionals with the tools to provide trauma-informed, adoption-competent care. If your coalition includes clinicians working with adoptive families, they may be interested in this opportunity. The next information session will be April 30th at 1pm. Learn more and register here!
Youth Resources
Apply Now! HealthMPowers Youth Advisory Board: HealthMPowers is recruiting high school students across Georgia to join its Youth Advisory Board, providing a unique opportunity for young leaders to develop advocacy skills and drive positive change in youth wellness. Members receive community service hours, paid professional development, networking opportunities, and college/job recommendations, all while helping to shape the future of health initiatives in their communities. HealthMPowers, one of RG's early Lunch & Learn presenters, is dedicated to promoting healthy habits for children across Georgia. Youth can apply here by April 12th! Please share!