LETTER FROM THE Executive Director
2024 Dear Cobb Collaborative Community,
In partnership with our staff, Board, volunteers, funders, member organizations and community stakeholders, we accomplished quite a lot in 2024! We invite you to share our enthusiasm as you read our Impact Report. This year we have made great strides in expanding our trauma-informed and resiliency-focused work through the introduction of new print, digital and tactile resources as well as expanded trainings. New partnerships and deeper collaborations propelled our early childhood programming to a record year of engagement including our first environmental project for The Basics Cobb County.
We worked diligently to inform and empower voters during the spring primaries and general election, hosting voter educational sessions, candidate forums, registration drives and community events. This will continue into 2025 with a special election in the spring and several municipal races in the fall. And if you haven’t heard about our Connecting Georgia Veterans program, we invite you to take the time to read about this life-changing work in this report and consider how you can be involved.
These milestones have not only impacted the lives of those we serve but have also reinforced the importance of our work in our community. Here’s to a great year of growth, partnerships and impact. We can’t wait to see what the future will bring!
Warmly,
Irene M. Barton
Engaging, Educating and Empowering the community to improve the well-being of children and families.
Cobb County partners working together to create opportunities for all people to thrive.
Mental Health
Our mental health awareness initiative expanded in 2024 as we established new partner ships and strengthened existing ones. With “mental health” such a hot topic, it became more important than ever for us to educate, engage and empower our stakeholders with evidence-based research, data, best practices and resources.
• We designed a “Mental Health 101” partnered with Cobb Senior Services to bring Senior Edition” to five senior centers.
• We added another certified Community Resiliency Model instructor to our team and brought CRM skill-building workshops to hundreds of educators, students, congre gants, municipal employees, court staff, nonprofit leaders and community members.
• We launched permanent and “pop up” Stations at multiple sites across Cobb, bringing print and tactile resources that support mental well-being.
• And we continued to partner with Cobb & Douglas Public Health and Cobb County Government in hosting quarterly Behavioral Health Connection meetings ensure that our community leaders remain connected around these issues.
“
CRM has taught me to be more cognizant of the tools that are available for me to manage my own stress and has given me techniques to use with clients when they seem stressed or triggered. –
CRM participant
Our team attends a variety of professional development events so we can continue to grow our knowledge base and bring best practices back to Cobb.
2024 saw us expand our signature “Resiliency Summit” into a week-long series of activities, including a retreat, community dinner, partner breakfast and capacity-building trainings.
Thank you to our funder and partner
Literacy
As the local point of contact for the Get Georgia Reading Campaign, we unite families, educators and community partners in an effort to improve our community’s literacy rates. As one of many solutions to improving outcomes for children and families, proficient literacy and language skills have directly influence the opportunities and successes of their lives.
We prioritize increasing access to books through our Little Free Library initiative, pop up book giveaways and our monthly family reading kits. We are pleased to continue to serve as the community partner for the Literacy & Justice For All initiative with Marietta City Schools and other partners. We were also proud to be a part of the inaugural Book Worm Bookfest in 2024, hosting the Mayor’s Reading Club panel.
appreciate the Mayor’s Reading Club participants:
We
Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood, Austell Mayor Ollie Clemons, Mableton Mayor Michael Owens, Smyrna Mayor Derek Norton, Powder Springs Mayor Al Thurman.
8,935
8
Little Free Libraries Installed
Birth to Five
Why The Basics?
Research shows that early childhood experiences from birth affect the development of the brain’s architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health. A strong foundation helps children develop the skills they need to become well-functioning adults as 90% of brain development happens in the first 5 years of life. Through The Basics Cobb County, we educate about the opportunity that all community members have in fostering these positive child hood experiences and empower parents to embrace their role as their child’s first and most important teacher.
My wife and I felt lost before finding The Basics. Now we feel confident that our three year old is getting exactly what he needs every day. – Cobb County parent
We build relational support through our in-person Playground Paloozas. We hosted 105 Paloozas in 2024 with 2,899 attendees. Attendees learn about the 5 Basic principles and how easy it is to incorporate these in everyday moments.
We engage our community by hosting quarterly convenings of partners from a variety of sectors including public health, early education, nonprofit, healthcare, faith and local government.
Civic Engagement
The Cobb Collaborative is honored to work to increase civic engagement in our community through a variety of ways. In 2024, that was primarily through our Vote Your Voice voter empowerment work, funded by the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Under the direction of our Vote Your Voice Coordinator, we hosted a variety of events throughout the year, leading up to the general election in November.
There were many issues at the local, state and federal levels for our citizens to be aware of, and we hit the ground running in January - and didn’t stop until the end of the year! We continue our work in 2025 with special elections for two County Commissioner seats as well as municipal elections.
1,191
Civic Engagement
Our fast-growing Connecting Cobb Veterans (CCV) program really took off in 2024. With a full year of funding to provide temporary, emergency shelter for qualified Veterans, we were able to provide 787 hotel nights to 89 different Veteran family households in 2024. Our model and track record remain strong with over 75% of Veterans who were a part of our program and received a customized care plan able to maintain permanent housing 3 months after working with us.
Another 396 Veterans served during the year with “warm” connections so that they are able to receive the most appropriate service or program. Our “secret sauce” is a deep and broad database of organizations and agencies in the Veteran ecosystem and a caring team of Veterans who make appropriate and swift connections for the individuals and families we serve.
Looking Ahead...
After reflecting on our work, we made the decision to rebrand as Connecting Georgia Veterans in 2025! This new chapter reflects our commitment to extending our impact across the state, reaching even more Veterans and ensuring they have access to critical resources, housing, and care.
As we embark on this new phase, we’re excited to continue creating opportunities, fostering connections, and making a lasting difference in the lives of Veterans across Georgia. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey—we can’t wait to see what the future holds.
“When I suddenly discovered myself homeless, I felt very ashamed, alone and lost. You have been there with me every step of the way providing much needed guidance and I cannot thank you enough. I am deeply grateful and indebted to you and Connecting Cobb Veterans.
– CCV Client
Much like the parent organization, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, we envision a community where all children and families thrive in safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. As the lead agency for Prevent Child Abuse Cobb, we accomplish this work by increasing public awareness of child maltreatment through trainings, public events and communications.
We encourage all family-facing agencies and organizations to attend a training, gather with like-minded professionals, and build trauma-informed and trauma-responsive systems.
Anything and everything we can do to strengthen and support parents, families and caregivers helps to prevent child abuse. – Irene M. Barton
We were honored to receive proclamations from several cities recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. These highlight the importance of protecting children and supporting families in our community. Each city’s acknowledgment strengthens our shared commitment to creating safe, nurturing environments for children and raising awareness about child abuse prevention.
The City of Smyrna | The City of Marietta | The City of Powder Springs | The City of Austell
More than
12 hours of complimentary consulting provided to our membership thanks to Carolyn Polakowski, Founder and President of Cay Communications.
Strategy Teams
Our strategy teams bring together community partners from various sectors like education, faith, nonprofit, local government, first responders, healthcare, businesses and engaged residents to develop and implement comprehensive plans to improve the well-being of our community members. Participants align vision, resources, and objectives to create a cohesive roadmap to achieve long-term goals.
The Collaborative serves as the backbone agency for Cobb County’s Birth-5 Strategy Team and Children & Families Strategy Teams. We also provide programmatic support to Connecting Georgia Veterans.
Cobb Collaborative Leadership Team
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Irene Barton
DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND PARTNERSHIPS
Kaitlyn Ball
MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Lesleigh Sanders
LITERACY COORDINATOR
Leslie Danford
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Alexandra Winn
CONNECTING GEORGIA VETERANS
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Tyler Bowser Contact Us
MAILING ADDRESS 1314 Church Street Smyrna, GA 30080
PHONE
678-766-5574
EMAIL communications@cobbcollaborative.org ONLINE www.cobbcollaborative.org
Cobb Collaborative 2024 Board of Directors
CHAIR
Jennifer Yankulova, Cobb Legal Aid
CHAIR-ELECT
James Bullock, Cobb County Police Department
TREASURER
Mallori Bruning, LiveSAFE Resources
SECRETARY
Barry Smith, The First Christian Church of Mableton
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
LaSondra Boddie, Dept. of Family and Children Services
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Alison Curtis, MS RDN LD, Cobb & Douglas Public Health
Doris Dawkins, City of Powder Springs Council
Greg Elder, MUST Ministries
Barbie D. Etterle, 94th Airlift Wing
Jesus Martinez, Peach Tree Commercial Capital, LLC
Rodney Moore, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health – Cobb
Ana Murphy, Cobb County School District
Sandee Katz Panichi, M.A., Cobb Senior Services