Tagged: conservation
Mediation Center Presents Community Partnership Award to Resilient Coastal Georgia
Mediation Center Presents Community Partnership Award to Resilient Coastal Georgia
(SAVANNAH, GA) Resilient Coastal Georgia, an initiative of the Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition, has received the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire’s Community Partnership Award.
The award was presented at the 2024 Anchored in the Community fundraiser on February 8 at Savannah Bottle Works in Savannah.
“We’re so thankful for all Resilient Coastal Georgia does to cultivate a trauma-informed community and build resilience in our community,” said Jill Cardenas, executive director of the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire. “We were grateful to celebrate with them on this special evening and thank all those who help us live our mission of increasing our community’s capacity to be conflict-resilient.”
The Resilient Coastal Georgia initiative serves to improve community well-being by engaging and leading the community to work collectively with a focus on building resilience and a trauma-informed community across the coastal counties of Chatham, Effingham and Bryan Counties.
In collaboration with the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire, Resilient Coastal Georgia has supported peacebuilding initiatives, including the inaugural Peace in the Park event in September 2022 and Savannah’s Day of Peace 2023, held in October. The 2023 event included 45 community resources and over 500 community members who engaged at the event.
Award winners recognized at the 2024 Anchored in the Community event include:
- Domestic Mediator Award – Robert Rodatus
- General Civil Mediator Award – Carol McCarthy
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Jeanne Dent
- Innovator Award – Kelly Crosby
- Stellar Advocate for Youth: Guardian Ad Litem – Gwendolyn Fortson Waring
- Stellar Advocate for Youth – Janie Brodhead
- Attorney Appreciation Award – Jack Strother, Attorney at Law
- Attorney Appreciation Award – The Law Offices of Joseph J. Steffen Jr.
- Community Partnership Award – Resilient Coastal Georgia
- The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire Board Service Award – Adam Kirk
ABOUT RESILIENT COASTAL GEORGIA
Resilient Coastal Georgia was formed in 2022 as a subset of the statewide organization, Resilient Georgia, to support mental health system change and policies for children, youth and families in the Savannah area affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The local organization works with community partners to provide training sessions for groups and individuals who work directly with children and youth and hosts mental wellness and trust-building events and spaces for young people. https://resilientcoastalga.org/
ABOUT THE MEDITATION CENTER
The Mediation Center is a 501©3 non-profit organization, founded in 1986 to serve the Savannah community with free and low-cost mediation services. A United Way agency since 2001, the organization is dedicated to helping citizens proactively manage conflict, creating alternatives to litigation and increasing access to justice. https://mediationsavannah.com/
ABOUT COASTAL GEORGIA INDICATORS COALITION
The Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition (CGIC) is comprised of community members and advocates working together through a comprehensive coordinated approach for planning accountability. It serves as a collaboration of resource agencies addressing overall health and well-being while leveraging resource initiatives. The purpose of the Coalition is to improve community well-being by engaging and leading the community to work collectively in its development of strategic priorities that guide policy, programs and resource allocation. CGIC is the responsible organization for the development, and with partners, the implementation of the Chatham Community Blueprint. CGIC has strength and capacity related to leadership, management, systems and partnerships.
https://www.coastalgaindicators.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Marjorie Young
Carriage Trade Public Relations® Inc.
912-844-9990
marjorie@carriagetradepr.com
Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition Releases New Chatham County Spending-to-Income Data
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) The Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition (CGIC) released new data for Chatham County health indicators at its bi-monthly Big CGIC Team Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
The indicators focus on spending-to-income ratios with health insurance, childcare, utilities, food and health care and housing.
The new data also breaks down Spending-to-Income Ratio Indicators for Chatham County by race/ethnicity of household and subcategories of spending that comprise each indicator (e.g., Owned Housing, Rented Housing).
“CGIC’s Community Health Dashboard is a powerful toolbox for organizations seeking information for projects or funding opportunities,’ said Lizann Roberts, executive director, Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition. “The data helps our community make better decisions on where we allocate financial resources both public and private. It helps us determine if programs are effective and create outcomes for better well-being for residents we serve.”
Roberts said if an organization needs statistics about ‘adults without health insurance,’ for example, they can key those words into the database for census numbers showing that 17% of Savannah’s population is uninsured, Chatham County’s uninsured number is 14.7%, and for Garden City, the rate is 21.2%.
Over 50 representatives from city and county government agencies and local leaders of health and service organizations attended the event, held at the Live Oak Southwest Chatham Library, 14097 Abercorn Street, in Savannah.
CGIC hosts and regularly updates the largest data hub in the community with 250 community-level indicators covering four coastal counties. The coalition has led the development of the Chatham Community Blueprint since 2014. The purpose of this long-term plan is to strategically move the community towards accomplishing specified goals in four key theme areas: Economy, Education, Health and Quality of Life. The Coalition hosts a “Big CGIC Meeting” on the first Wednesday of every other month in Savannah. The CGIC has previously offered and is currently scheduling future workshops to teach people how to use its database.
ABOUT COASTAL GEORGIA INDICATORS COALITION
The Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition (CGIC) is comprised of community members and advocates working together through a comprehensive coordinated approach for planning accountability. It serves as a collaboration of resource agencies addressing overall health and well-being while leveraging resource initiatives. The purpose of the Coalition is to improve community well-being by engaging and leading the community to work collectively in its development of strategic priorities that guide policy, programs and resource allocation. CGIC is the responsible organization for the development, and with partners, the implementation of the Chatham Community Blueprint. CGIC has strength and capacity related to leadership, management, systems and partnerships.
https://www.coastalgaindicators.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Marjorie Young
Carriage Trade Public Relations® Inc.
912-844-9990
marjorie@carriagetradepr.com
The Center for a Sustainable Coast’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
The Center for a Sustainable Coast’s 20th-Anniversary Celebration Features Renowned Environmental Economist as Keynote Speaker
(SAVANNAH, GA) The Center for a Sustainable Coast will host their 20th-anniversary conference on Saturday, June 17, to celebrate their continued efforts in protecting Georgia’s coast. The program will include a retrospective of Georgia’s coastal issues and a discussion about the profound challenges that lie ahead.
The 20th-anniversary event will take place at 5 p.m. at the DeSoto Hilton of Savannah, 15 E. Liberty St. General admission is $20 and includes a buffet dinner. The Center for a Sustainable Coast encourages guests to RSVP in advance by phone at 912-506-5088 or email at susdev@gate.net.
Since its opening in 1997, the Center for a Sustainable Coast’s board and staff have defended the public’s interest on a variety of topics including protecting water quality, tidal marshes, wildlife, and ocean shorelines. The Center for a Sustainable Coast was also an active member of the “Push Back the Pipeline” collaboration in coastal Georgia.
The Center was awarded the Sapelo Foundation’s “Smith Bagley Advocacy Grant Award” in 2016 and was the 2007 recipient of the Common Cause Freedom Award for leadership in coastal marsh protection. The organization also co-founded the Coal Ash Legal Fund to campaign against high-risk landfill disposal of millions of tons of cancer-causing coal ash near the Altamaha River.
“The Center is proud of our record but difficult challenges remain,” said Steve Willis, board president. “We’re continually striving to accomplish more by keeping the public informed and involved in pivotal coastal issues.”
Professor Geoffrey Heal of Columbia University will be featured as the keynote speaker. He will discuss how neglecting nature threatens our prosperity. An open discussion will follow his address. Heal believes the only way to achieve long-term economic prosperity is to protect the environment.
Geoffrey Heal
“If we want to survive and move forward as a nation and as a world, we have to recognize how the environment and the economy interact and how they can work in harmony,” Heal said. “I like to start out with a simple picture of our reliance on the planet, help my listeners visualize the larger problem at hand and give my audience an outline of solutions that will lead us in the right direction.”
For more information, please visit http://sustainablecoast.org/.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR A SUSTAINABLE COAST
The Center for a Sustainable Coast was formed in 1997 by a group of public-spirited environmental professionals and concerned citizens. The Center’s mission is advocating responsible decisions that sustain coastal Georgia’s environment and quality of life. The organization seeks to improve our region’s ability to resolve key issues affecting the health and diversity of natural, cultural and economic resources by educating the public, using research, advocacy, training, technical assistance and – when needed – taking legal action. The Center for a Sustainable Coast also helped launch two of the region’s Riverkeeper groups. Visit https://www.facebook.com/Center-for-a-Sustainable-Coast-141003446180/timeline/ and www.sustainablecoast.org for more information.
ABOUT GEOFFREY HEAL
Geoffrey Heal is noted for contributions to economic theory and resource and environmental economics. He holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Cambridge University and an honorary doctorate from the Universite´ de Paris Dauphine.
He is the author of 18 books and about two hundred articles and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Econometric Society, past president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, recipient of its prize for publications of enduring quality and life fellow, a director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a founder, director and chairman of the board of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and a member of the economic advisory board of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Heal chaired a committee of the National Academy of Sciences on valuing ecosystem services, was a commissioner of the Pew Oceans Commission, an IPCC coordinating lead author for the fifth assessment report, a member of President Sarkozy’s Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress and of the advisory board for the World Bank’s 2010 World Development Report and UNEP’s 2011 Human Development Report.
CONTACT:
Center for a Sustainable Coast
David Kyler
221 Mallery Suite B
Saint Simons Island, GA 31522
912-506-5088
susdev@gate.net
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marjorie Young
Carriage Trade Public Relations®
912-844-9990
marjorie@carriagetradepr.com
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