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PLANT AMERICA Community Project Grant |
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It is with great pleasure that I present to you a report on the hard work and dedication of the garden club members of Rome, GA. Dedicated volunteer members of the Rome Federated Garden Clubs, Inc. and the Townview Garden Club successfully renovated the grounds at the Harbor House thanks, in part, to the 2022 Plant America Community Project Grant. Harbor House was chosen for this grant because it is the Northwest Georgia Child Advocacy Center (CAC) and the Floyd County Court Appointed Special Advocates program home. Harbor House is one of 48 CACs across the state. Founded in 1994, Harbor House was one of the original 9 CACs created in Georgia. The primary purpose of a CAC is to centralize the investigatory process on the child and their caregiver, in order to minimize re-traumatization to the child by the very system that is designed to protect them. Children must relive their traumatic and abusive incident every time that they are asked to share their story with the different agency personnel involved in the child abuse investigative process, such as the police, DFCS, doctors, teachers, parents, other family members, prosecutors, etc. By utilizing Harbor House, the child is allowed to share what happened to them in a beautiful and comfortable location with a specially trained forensic interviewer, where the child's needs are always first and foremost. The CAC also provides crisis coordination through the intake process with the family, offering referrals to other service agencies when necessary. Ongoing advocacy with the child and their caregivers for as long as necessary, which could sometimes be years. Trauma-focused therapy services are made available to the children through Harbor House at no cost to the family. Additionally, Floyd County CASA, which serves as the child's voice during juvenile court proceedings, works out of Harbor House. They utilize office space and the board room to hold training sessions for their volunteer workers. Harbor House is the center piece to the county's child abuse protocol, bringing all the organizations involved in child abuse investigations together with the main purpose of protecting the child while they navigate through the judicial process. Next year will bring the 30th Anniversary of the founding of Harbor House. In the mid-1990’s, two homes, next door to each other in the “Between the Rivers” Historic District of downtown Rome were graciously donated to be used for the aforementioned activities. Time and age of the buildings and grounds had taken their toll. Harbor House Board of Directors secured a grant to refurbish the houses and The Rome Federated Garden Clubs, Inc., led by Townview Garden Club, secured the Plant America Community Project Grant to refurbish the grounds. With the funds in place and the commitment of many volunteers, 2022 was a year of reclaiming the beauty of Harbor House. In addition to the grant money, each member of the Rome Federated Garden Clubs pledged one dollar in support of the project. Townview Garden Club also hosted a garage sale in order to donate extra funds for this project. Ten separate work days were scheduled throughout the duration of the project in which members volunteered their time and talents to clean up, remove the old, and plant new. These work days resulted in approximately 150 hours of volunteer time given by the Federated Garden Club and Townview Garden Club members. The project’s goal was to create a beautiful landscape on the grounds of Harbor House. This goal is based on the belief that the children served by Harbor House will experience tranquility and healing as a result of the beauty of the grounds, setting a tone of peace and welcoming before they enter the facility. |
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The project included two phases: clean up and beautification. The clean up began with many hours of removing English ivy on the homes, trees, shrubs and in the beds. The shrubs were removed in front to aid in the construction work. Additionally, removal was necessary because they had been trimmed into unnatural ball shapes, which made them unhealthy. A large area, approximately 8’x10’, of dense Lenten roses has been rejuvenated during this project and the blooms this winter/early spring have been gorgeous. The three large crepe myrtles that line the street in front of one of the two houses needed trimming. The City of Rome Street Department trimmed these properly with guidance from a few garden club members! Volunteers removed old bricks, stones, and wood from the beds, and they cleaned up an old walkway to the rear entrance. Both houses had a lot of overgrown Nandina which was thinned out and trimmed during the many work days. Phase two, the beautification process, was a much easier task than the clean up. Upon approval from the Rome Historic Preservation Commission and after the homes had been refurbished and painted, the grounds restoration project began. The following plants were purchased at cost from Watters & Associates Landscape: ‘Spring Bouquet’ Viburnum, ‘Carissa’ Holly, ‘Hummingbird’ Clethra, ‘Hoogendorn’ Holly, Tea Olive, ‘Merlot’ Virginia Sweetspire, ‘George Tabor’ Azalea, and Gaura. Planting day was quite easy, and many volunteer hands made for light work. Botts Brother’s Landscaping was hired to dig holes for the new plants and seven garden club members came to plant - in the rain! The Federated Garden Clubs and Townview Garden Club ladies have been a dedicated bunch of women throughout this project. The final work day was simply to lay pine straw in beds and gravel on the back sidewalks. We had ten volunteers who again made quick work of 35 bales of pine straw, sweeping and blowing off the walkways. The Berry College Baseball team sent 4 strong student volunteers to aid in laying the gravel. Their efforts were greatly appreciated by the garden club ladies. As you can gather from this report, the outpouring of support not only from our Federated and Townview Garden Club members, but from the community as a whole, was tremendous throughout this project. It has been wonderful coordinating the efforts of so many volunteers to bring beauty to a child’s world during their most tragic time in life. The Project Coordinator, Mrs. Pam Roberts, scheduled the work days and encouraged our volunteers. She has earned our deepest gratitude! Respectfully submitted, Melissa Phillips *Photographs attached and permission granted to use in outside publications. |
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Blue Star Marker The Blue Star Memorial Program honors service men and women who have served, are serving or will be serving in the armed services of the United States. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs (now National Garden Clubs, Inc.) adopted the program started in New Jersey and began a Blue Star Highway system, which covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. A large metal Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker was placed at appropriate locations along the way. Memorial Markers and By-Way Markers are placed at locations such as national cemeteries, parks, veteran's facilities and gardens. The Blue Star became an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war, as well as in churches and businesses. Georgia garden clubs have been especially active in recent years, raising money to erect Blue Star Markers throughout our state to honor our military personnel. |
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The Rome Federated Garden Clubs, Inc. strongly supports the Blue Star Program. The Federated Garden Clubs, Inc. located at the Garden Center at 100 E. 8th Street Sponsored by Seven Hills Garden Club. Lavender View Garden Club located at the intersection of Garden Lakes Blvd and Shoreline Drive Mountain View Garden Club located at Myrtle Hill in South Rome Seven Hills Garden Club located at Sara Hightower Regional Library Townview Garden Club located at the corner of Broad Street and 5th Ave Rome Federation of Garden Clubs Rome, GA 12/7/1997 Government Plaza, Floyd Co Courthouse, |
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