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Furkids pins future dreams on event facility By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com
DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA
Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Jeff Bearden, Georgia Highlands Medical Services CEO Todd Shifflet, County Schools Health Services Facilitator Heidi Avila, Georgia Highlands Medical Services Nurse Practitioner Ashley Ford and Cumming Elementary School Principal Jordan Livermore cut the ribbon for the county’s first school-based health center March 9.
District partners with clinic to open school health center By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County Schools and Georgia Highlands Medical Services hosted a ribbon-cutting for the county’s first school-based health center at Cumming Elementary School March 9. The school-based health center will
provide on-site medical and mental health services to students and school staff. It will be led by nurse practitioner Ashley Ford and licensed professional counselor Michele Ruiz. Cumming Elementary school nurse Kimberly Crockett will manage communication between the school and the clinic. Students will still visit the nurse first, then attend the health center on
her recommendation. At the March 9 ceremony, representatives from Cumming Elementary School, Georgia Highlands Medical Services and Forsyth County Schools gathered to talk about the process of creating the school-based health center.
Forsyth County officials move to increase impact fees
See HEALTH, Page 10
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FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters announced its dedication of a new event center at Shiloh Gardens for fundraising March 9. The 3,400-square-foot facility was named after donors Kay and John Giaquinto, and it will host meetings, community gatherings and weddings. The center was rebuilt from an existing barn, and all proceeds from events will directly support the organization. “We are really excited and motivated about the potential for it to generate ongoing income for the organization to fund lifesaving programs into the future,” John Giaquinto said. “And we encourage people to support Furkids in their own ways, whether it’s fostering or adopting Furkids animals, volunteering time or donating money, materials or talent.” The opening marked the completion of phase one of the Furkids Capital Campaign, which funded the purchase of the property, two outbuildings for cat intake and an isolation building for sick cats, as well as other projects. The organization is composed of a cat shelter; a veterinary clinic; care and intake buildings; and the Sadie’s Place dog shelter on Union Hill Road. In the second phase of the capital campaign, the shelter is raising money for new free-standing dog and cat shelters, a medical facility and to repurpose the current dog shelter for intake and quarantine for its TransFur program, which sends animals to no-kill shelters with high demand for adoption. “Our goal is to make Shiloh Gardens at Furkids unique among animal rescue and shelter organizations,” Furkids founder and CEO
See ANIMALS, Page 11