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Erin Campbell, founder of the Athens Area Diaper Bank, moves boxes labeled for Oglethorpe County at the organization’s warehouse in Bogart. The nonprofit sends free diapers to locations in Oglethorpe County. (Sarah Donehoo/The Oglethorpe Echo))
An array of nonprofits, government organizations, churches and other institutions offer assistance throughout the year to individuals and families in need in Oglethorpe County.
About 11.1% of the 14,825 people who lived in Oglethorpe County experienced poverty in 2022, the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Here’s an overview of resources, from hot meals to fresh food to diapers to classes and more, that are available year-round. The list includes contact information for those who need help and ways to support these efforts.
*If you know of other resources not listed, please contact us at coveringpovertysite@gmail.com.
SENIORS
Oglethorpe County Senior Center
oglethorpecountyga.gov/seniors
706-743-8848
crobinson@oglethorpecountyga.gov
19 Oglethorpe Drive, Crawford
The Senior Center provides a variety of services to individuals aged 60 and older.
Seniors who can drive and walk into the center can fill out a membership application in person. Those clients, also known as “congregate clients,” can come to the center five days a week to receive a hot meal for lunch and do an activity with the other seniors.
The center is part of the Oglethorpe County government.
Homebound clients should call the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission (706-583-2546). The commission will fill out an assessment report and send the information to Corie Robinson, the center’s director. She will visit the client’s home to set them up to receive a weekly delivery of frozen meals to last the whole week. To sign up, seniors should provide a photo ID, a list of emergency contacts, a list of medications and an insurance card.
There is a $60 annual membership fee ($5/month), which can be made in payments throughout the year. If someone is unable to pay, there are sponsorships for free memberships available.
Robinson said to contact her if the membership fee is a barrier and she will provide assistance. In addition, there is also a required donation of $2 for every meal, $5 for non-member family members and friends.
The center takes individuals to doctor appointments within the county (must be scheduled in advance) and to the grocery store, bank and pharmacy on Tuesdays. The center has a gym that is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The center also takes trips twice a month. The trips require a $3 donation, while they require a $2 donation for meals ($5 for non members).
The center partners with the Ninth District Community Agency with heating and cooling assistance; contact the NDO at 1-855-636-3108.
The calendar of events and the menu for each week is printed in The Oglethorpe Echo; the monthly calendar of events is on its Facebook page.
“Everyone, every staff member here, is here because they care, and they love each and every one of these members and our clients, and I cannot think of anything better than working in a place where you get to give back to the community that you live in,” Robinson said. “You know, it's just fantastic. I can’t even almost put it into words.”
FAMILY SERVICES
Family Connection
762-445-4020
735 Athens Road, Lexington
Family Connection connects community members committed to improving the well-being of children and families to the resources people need. The organization also can provide links to online resources, such as findhelp.org, and see if families meet the criteria for these programs. There is no cost for assistance.
Coordinator April Moore said if she doesn’t have an immediate answer, she will research and reach out to area partners and organizations.
“It's just like a big family here,” she said. “People really want to help and if there's not something that we know automatically, or that the person would qualify for, so to speak, people just want to help and sometimes we just figure out a way and make it happen by just talking and you know, seeing if we can all pull together to give that family or that person the support they need.”
Moore said Family Connection is working on/with organizations and projects such as Athens Area Diaper Bank, Community Day, Community Christmas, literacy events and the student athlete nutrition and hydration program.
Oglethorpe County Extension and 4-H Office
extension.uga.edu/county-offices/oglethorpe.html
706-743-8341
55 Oglethorpe Drive, Crawford
The extension’s Cooking to Share Program provides meals cooked by youth students to families in need identified by the Oglethorpe school district. The program is an effort to foster students’ confidence with cooking skills, kitchen safety and to also teach them how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
The program has raised approximately $5,150 for supplies and ingredients, and over 80 families have been impacted since 2013, according to the 4-H Office’s 2023 impact statement. Over 2,000 youth have participated in the community service opportunity, which hosts a cooking event with about 25 students once a month.
“Every family that comes to pick (the meals) up are so grateful, and they always say that the food's delicious,” Eason said. “This is for the families but it's also for the kids. … I have heard that the kids go back home after they've participated and want to help cook more.”
Athens Area Diaper Bank
706-621-7265
130 Conway Drive, Suite E, Bogart
The Athens Area Diaper Bank is a resource for families struggling with the expense of diapers. About 35 organizations partner with the bank and distribute the diapers in multiple counties: Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Jackson and Madison. The Athens Area Diaper Bank began collecting diapers in 2015, founder and executive director Erin Campbell said.
Free diapers are available at Deliverance Temple Ministries (220 Smithonia Road, Winterville 30683). If transportation isn’t available, call 706-621-7265 to request delivery.
Also, Community Christmas of Oglethorpe County distributes free diapers to families who have been interviewed for assistance. Call 706-201-7241.
Brightpaths
706-546-9713
1450 Barnett Shoals Road, Athens
Brightpaths Athens offers multiple free programs to serve families and parents in several counties, including Oglethorpe County. The Healthy Families program teaches child development, proper discipline, healthy parent-child interactions and more through in-home visits by Brightpaths’ family support specialists.
Brightpaths holds parenting classes in both Spanish and English at its Athens location, as well as online sessions when needed. It also offers the First Step program in which new moms and the families of newborns at Athens-Clarke County hospitals are visited within 12 to 48 hours of giving birth.
A family resource closet is at the Brightpaths Athens location. It is open from 9-11 a.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to noon Fridays. It has items such as pack and plays, diapers, baby food, formula and strollers. Parents can take one can of formula and one pack of diapers per week as supplies last, and the other items are given as needed.
Brightpaths also has a car seat tech who can show families how to install them.
To learn how to access these programs, visit brightpathsathens.org or call 706-546-9713. Go to the “connect with us” page and fill out the registration form (brightpathsathens.org/programs/register-online). You will receive a phone call from Brightpaths after registering.
Brightpaths accepts monetary donations, as well as donations to the resource closet; visit brightpathsathens.org/get-involved/donate. You can find a list of needed items at brightpathsathens.org/parents/shop.
Resource closet donations can be dropped off at the center on Tuesdays from 9-11 a.m. and on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon. There are also volunteer opportunities for the Brightpaths fall festival and a holiday party for the families they serve.
There are also ongoing opportunities to help with administrative work in the office or to staff the resource closet on Friday mornings.
“I think it's important because all parents need help,” said Sallie Starrett, executive director.
Brightpaths provides connection and education for those who don’t have a built-in support system from families and friends, she added.
“So we're trying to kind of decrease the stigma of asking for help as a mom or dad,” she said.
EDUCATION
Lena Wise Community Center
706-614-1044
134 Church St., Crawford
The Lena Wise Community Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides a space for several helpful educational and senior programs accessible to Oglethorpe County residents.
“The reason for the Lena Wise Community Center is to operate this building on behalf of the nonprofits that make up the organization,” said Cary Fordyce, the nonprofit’s chairman. “It acts as the home base for all the other organizations.”
These include free GED classes taught remotely by Athens Technical College. Adults who want to enroll in the GED program should contact Vicki Ussery (706-552-0949), a GED course instructor who also provides tutoring in a renovated room of the center.
County residents can also enroll in free technical skill classes like welding safety, cutting and grinding and gas metal arc welding from Athens Technical College by calling 706-552-0949. Seniors can enroll at any time.
Athens Tech is working on offering ESL — English as a second language — classes, and the center will announce when that’s available, Fordyce said.
The Athens Community Council on Aging offers the Senior Community Service Employment Program for unemployed residents over the age of 55. People can contact 706-549-4850 to apply for part-time job training working in local agencies. For a full and up-to-date list of organizations, contact the Athens Community Council for Aging at 706-621-0001.
Action Athens Inc.
706-546-8293
2440 West Broad St., Suite 5, Athens
Action Athens provides higher education and community services. The organization can help with rent, energy and mortgage expenses, or employment supplies depending on individual and family needs, said Margo Fowler, a Community Services Block Grant and Emergency Food and Shelter Program manager for Action Athens.
Its food rescue program, called Full Plate, picks up unused food from commercial sources and delivers the food to other nonprofit agencies, such as the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, that focus on food distribution.
Weatherization is a service that makes low-income homes more energy efficient by increasing energy efficiency and safety through services including insulation, air leakage reduction, smoke detectors and weather stripping.
Individuals can make an appointment for an evaluation of goals and needs by reaching out to Nesial Miller, coordinator for Oglethorpe County, at 706-453-4141.
FOOD
Lexington Baptist Church
lbc-lex.org/mobile-food-ministry
706-743-8216
103 West Church St., Lexington
Lexington Baptist Church’s mobile food ministry is held on the second Monday of each month. Food distributions start at 3:30 p.m. and are served on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Recipients are asked to complete a short form and answer some basic questions in order to receive food.
One crate is allowed per family, in order to serve as many families as possible. Individuals can pick up nonperishable food items such as breads, soups and other pre-packaged items. Food is placed in crates and delivered to vehicles.
Its Facebook page (facebook.com/LBCoglethorpe) lists dates of the food distribution.
Burts United Methodist Church
ngumc.org/churchdetail/2934798
706-296-0415
77 Veribest-Enterprise Road, Carlton
Burts United Methodist Church has a food pantry on the third Wednesday of each month. Members and non-members of the church can stop by and pick up food in the worship hall from 10 a.m. to noon. Nonperishable food items are placed in boxes and given to individuals upon arrival. Fruits, vegetables and perishable items are supplied on a varied basis from month to month depending on availability.
Special seasonal events include offering cider during Thanksgiving, hot chocolate around Christmas and an appearance by Santa at the food distribution in December to take photos with community members as part of an initiative to add a heightened sense of community to the food pantry.
Visit Berts United Methodist Church on Facebook for distribution dates.
The CAYA House
facebook.com/profil.php?id=100091483063750
706-963-0610
1240 Comer Road, Crawford
The CAYA House, which stands for “come as you are,” is a non-profit founded this year by Becky Soto and Jill Kort as a way to serve and minister to the people in Oglethorpe County, Soto said. It serves primarily as a food pantry, delivers monthly to families in need that are referred to them, and provides household items and clothes on an as-needed basis for displaced families.
“We strive to serve anyone who needs a helping and non-judgmental hand, whatever circumstances they may find themselves in,” Soto said.
The CAYA House is housed on the grounds of Mt. Pleasant Community Church in Crawford, but it is a separate nonprofit entity from the church and a standalone structure, she said. It partners with multiple churches and non-faith-based organizations.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit accepts donations of non-perishable food items, toiletries and cleaning supplies, and it also accepts cash donations.
“Simply reach out to us,” Soto said. “We will help in every way possible.”
She added that The CAYA House operates 24/7 and can be reached by phone or email. It does not hold open hours unless there is an appointment with someone in need.
Plowshare
706-255-9005
925 Athens Road, Crawford
Plowshare is a gardening organization with free membership. Community members can attend their monthly potluck held on the second Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Farm Bureau in Crawford. Around 40 to 50 people attend the monthly meetings, according to co-founder Don Williamson.
Plowshare offers a space for the free exchange of produce, seeds, plants and other gardening items that allow people to reap the benefits of growing their own food. Experts often attend meetings to speak and provide guidance. People can find farming information, resources, recipes and more on the Plowshare website.
“To me, if you want to eat healthy, you need to grow it yourself or at least buy it from organic farmers,” Williamson said. “And as far as the potlucks, that's the best restaurant in town.”
This story was written by the Covering Poverty project, which is part of the Cox Institute’s Journalism Writing Lab at the University of Georgia.