GAINESVILLE — Two non-profit agencies that serve teens and their families in the Gainesville area have announced plans to merge their programs in 2016.
In a press statement released Friday, officials with Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Inc. and Center Point said the merger actually became official in mid-November, following separate votes by the boards of both organizations.
On December 31, 2015, all future operations of Teen Pregnancy Prevention, which has been in operation for 27 years, will come under the direction of Center Point.
David Smith will continue to serve as executive director of Center Point, a 48-year-old United Way agency providing counseling, mentoring, substance-abuse prevention, and religion education to youth and families throughout Gainesville and Hall County. Barbara Hicks, the longtime executive director of Teen Pregnancy Prevention, will be joining Center Point to provide supervision and program development.
The two agencies said by joining forces they will be able to better coordinate and strengthen prevention services to young people and their families.
“I want to stress that this merger will strengthen, not end, all the wonderful pregnancy prevention programs led by Barbara Hicks and her organization,” said David Smith of Center Point in the written statement. “Our two agencies have always collaborated, but now we will be under one roof to provide an even greater holistic and coordinated approach to working with the young people of our community.”
As part of the merger, Hicks and her five-member staff of licensed social workers and educators will be joining Center Point as employees. The combined operations are expected to increase revenues for the organization while reducing expenses in areas such as accounting and insurance, Smith said.
“The biggest beneficiary of this merger is the Gainesville-Hall County community,” said Hicks. “Together, our combined organization will be able to fill in some gaps and provide an even greater array of coordinated support services to youth and families. In the long run, we will be saving money for the taxpayers of this community by reducing poverty, indigent healthcare costs, crime and other issues that often result from teenage pregnancies.”
Center Point was founded in 1967 by four area churches with the mission to supplement and broaden religion education for local youth. While the agency provides support to the Gainesville City and Hall County school systems, it operates independently as a SACS-accredited academic program. Through the years, the original Center Point mission has further evolved with the hiring of a team of educators and licensed clinical psychologists, therapists, and social workers.
Based near Gainesville High School, Center Point is currently working to open a second location to provide greater access to youth and families in South Hall. A $1.1 million capital campaign to open Center Point South in Oakwood is planned for 2016.
“We presently work with about 7,000 youth and families each year throughout the community,” Smith said. “With the addition of Center Point South and with the merger, we hope to reach and positively impact another 3,000 lives annually with our programs.”
In addition to United Way, Center Point receives funding from private donors, foundations, local governments, Gainesville and Hall County schools, and state grants. While counseling services are fee-based, Center Point does not turn away any youth and families for financial reasons. Funding support is provided through the agency’s Wilheit Services program.
For more information, visit the Center Point website at CenterPointGa.org.
