Project Safe

More than 20 students from Oglethorpe County High School and Oglethorpe County Middle School came to volunteer at the workday event at the Oglethorpe County Senior Center on Tuesday. Event organizer Sara Hughes was excited to cultivate community with this project. "I just love that we all get to work together to serve the community, all of these different wonderful entities get to come together for a common goal. I love to see opportunities like that." (Photo/Emilie Sullivan)

More than 20 students from Oglethorpe County High School and Oglethorpe County Middle School came to volunteer at the workday event at the Oglethorpe County Senior Center on Tuesday. Event organizer Sara Hughes was excited to cultivate community with this project. "I just love that we all get to work together to serve the community, all of these different wonderful entities get to come together for a common goal. I love to see opportunities like that." (Photo/Emilie Sullivan)

Students, seniors cultivate community through garden boxes

Emilie Sullivan
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
A muti-generational workday at the Oglethorpe County Senior Center Tuesday resulted in 10 raised garden boxes for visitors to use and enjoy.
Patricia Whatley, a licensed clinical social worker, has worked with MedLink since 2022 and serves Athens-Clarke and Oglethorpe County communities. She estimates that a quarter of her clients in Oglethorpe County discuss domestic violence or related crises on an annual basis. (Gabrielle Gruszynski/The Oglethoroe Echo)

Patricia Whatley, a licensed clinical social worker, has worked with MedLink since 2022 and serves Athens-Clarke and Oglethorpe County communities. She estimates that a quarter of her clients in Oglethorpe County discuss domestic violence or related crises on an annual basis. (Gabrielle Gruszynski/The Oglethoroe Echo)

County has few resources for domestic violence

Gabrielle Gruszynski
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
“It’s a big county, but it’s very spread out. There’s a lot of isolation,” said Patricia Whatley, a licensed clinical social worker for MedLink serving Oglethorpe and Athens-Clarke counties.  That isolation and lack of services show up in the numbers.