OUR HISTORY Advocates was founded in 1983 as a children’s shelter in Cartersville, Georgia. Today, Advocates is known as a regional leader that provides a continuum of care to protect children and build strong families.
OUR PROGRAMS Through our eight advocacy and prevention programs, we serve 11 Northwest Georgia counties offering safety, comfort, and hope to over 15,000 children, youth and adults every year.
OUR MISSION Protect children, empower families and strengthen communities.
OUR VISION Communities where all children are safe, thriving and loved.
OUR VALUES Service- We provide quality and excellence in all we do. Love- We serve our families, children, and youth with compassion and dedication. Integrity– We build relationships on trust and mutual respect. Hope – We believe in a better tomorrow.
Volunteer with Advocates
PROVIDE A MEAL • You can sign up to deliver meals on our website through a monthly Sign-up Genius. • Meals can be homemade or ordered from a restaurant or grocery store. • Meals should be for 6-8 adult size servings. • You will be able to schedule a convenient drop off time at the shelter. • The need for meals and snacks increases during summers and school breaks
ORGANIZE A PRODUCT DONATION DRIVE FOR FLOWERING BRANCH Hosting a fundraising drive through your church, school, or civic organization is a great way to make an important contribution to Flowering Branch.
• Individually Wrapped Snacks • Toiletries • Cleaning Supplies You will work with our Development Team to coordinate your drive. We are happy to provide the marketing materials for your supply drive if you would like to organize collection and delivery.
MENTOR A RESIDENT AT FLOWERING BRANCH Mentors serve as positive role models to our residents. We require our mentors to commit long-term to serving one hour per week with their mentee at our shelter. A good mentor is a person who provides their mentee with a listening ear, support, guidance, and advice to thrive.
Mentor Requirements Background Check, Fingerprinting and Drug Screening Advocates for Children Onboarding Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter Specific Training Commitment of 1 hour weekly to meet with mentee Mentors should be 22-years-old or older
TUTOR A RESIDENT AT FLOWERING BRANCH Lending an academic hand to our residents at Flowering Branch is a great way to get involved with our organization. To become a tutor or mentor, you will need to interview, attend a training session, complete a background screening with fingerprinting, and commit to one 2-hour session each week.
VOLUNTEER WITH OUR RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH PROGRAM • Volunteering on projects at our Runaway and Homeless Youth House • Creating hygiene/toiletry bags for our presentations • Conducting clothing and hygiene drives for unhoused youth
BECOME A SAFE PLACE SITE Advocates for Children provides youth in crisis with timely assistance through the national safety net program Safe Place. Local schools, churches, fire stations, police departments, and other community businesses and organizations are committed Safe Place site partners trained to connect youth in crisis with our Runaway and Homeless Youth Program.
Safe Place sites are located throughout the Advocate’s service communities and are easily identifiable by the diamond shaped black and yellow logo. Do You Want to Become a Safe Place Partner? Can You Help Connect Us with Your Church, Business or Civic Group to Share About Safe Place? CONTACT US!
770-382-6180
GROUNDS BEAUTIFICATION We can always use help maintaining the grounds of our Prevention and Advocacy Center and our Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter. This is a great volunteer opportunity for church groups, youth groups, and school clubs needing volunteer hours.
ADMINISTRATIVE VOLUNTEERS There are many ways we can use volunteer help at our Prevention and Advocacy Center. We would love your administrative support in our Finance, Human Resources, Administrative and Development Departments.
EVENT VOLUNTEERS Advocates for Children hosts several special events throughout the year, and we would love your help. From assisting with our Duck Dash and Half-Marathon to welcoming families during our annual Trunk-or-Treat, we would love your help!
THRIVE Family Resource Center instills hope, empowers and strengthens families who are involved in the child welfare system and are struggling with poverty. Our goal is to stabilize families by providing concrete support while working with community partners to meet immediate basic needs, such as adequate housing, food, and healthcare to prevent the trauma of unnecessary foster care removal and help families thrive. THRIVE has two separate resource center locations with one housed in Cobb County near Kennesaw State University and the other housed in Bartow County in the Advocate’s Advocacy and Prevention Center.
SORTING & ORGANIZING We receive many donations of clothing and other goods to help the families we serve through the THRIVE Family Resource Center. We need assistance with sorting, organizing, and inventorying donations at both our Kennesaw and Bartow locations.
ORGANIZE A DONATION DRIVE FOR THRIVE, RISE, OR HOPE IN YOUR HOME Our clients are always in need of certain items, and we would love your help organizing donation drives to collect donations.
Please consider organizing a: • Diaper and Wipe Drive • Children’s Socks and Underwear Drive • Cleaning Supply Drive • Personal Hygiene Item Drive Our Development Team will work with you to organize your drive. We are happy to help you with marketing and advertising your donation drive.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
CASA’s mission is to recruit, train and supervise community volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children in foster care as they navigate through the Juvenile Court system.
In 2023, CASA served 237 children with their 75 volunteers.
The child may have multiple DFCS case managers and multiple placements, but they have one CASA…the only stable adult who is with them through their time in the foster care maze. • Volunteers will gain insight into the child by meeting with teachers, therapists, and others who are involved in the child's life (Collateral Contacts) • Spend quality time with the child (at least once each month) to get to know them and give the child encouragement.
CASA TRAINING We conduct two training a year in the spring and fall. Interested volunteers complete an online application and an in-person interview with Advocates. Upon acceptance, we conduct intensive training which includes 24 hours of in class training (1 evening a week for 8 weeks), 12 hours of court and panel review observation, background screenings, drug testing, and being officially sworn in by local judges.
CASA volunteers must also stay abreast of training and complete 12 hours of in-service trainings per year after their first full year of service.
ARE YOU READY TO VOLUNTEER WITH US? Email volunteer@advochild.org
and we will connect you with our volunteer opportunities.