Archive for December 2013
Griffin Area Resource Center receives BP grant
The Griffin Area Resource Center received a $1,500 check from the BP Fueling Communities Program after it was nominated for the local grant by Willis Oil Co. in Griffin. The BP Grant program awards such grants to support organizations that focus on health, education, youth, food and housing. ‘We will be able to provide more services to people with disabilities, from employment services to living supports,” said Lisa 0. Sassaman, executive director of GARC.
Since 1955, GARC has been serving individuals with developmental disabilities. This BP grant will allow GARC to better empower their participants to achieve the highest level of personal independence and connection within their community and to strive to improve their quality of life. “Although BP is a large company, it is good about showing concern for local communities,” said Kim Willis, chief executive oficer of Willis Oil Co. “Staying in close touch with local distributors like Willis Oil allows BP to help contribute to local quality of life with grants like these.”
Griffin advised to allow group homes
Griffin may be making changes to allow group homes in all residential districts of the city.
City Attorney Drew Whalen advised the city commissioners at Tuesday’s workshop, that in light of recent court decisions, he is recommending the city change its Unified Development Code to allow group homes in all residential districts and to eliminate the requirement of a special use permit as a condition of locating a group home.
Whalen explained there have been “a series of lawsuits that found zoning restrictions discriminatory when applied to those of a protected class — persons with a disability. The city’s current zoning scheme limits group home out of low density housing.”
In city zoning, he said, “there are no limits for related people, a true family unit based on the size of the dwelling or number of bedrooms, but for unrelated people, the limit is two per bedroom.”
He told the city commissioners they “could be sued individually for discriminating, and it would not fall under qualified immunity, since it’s been federal law for 20 years. The law in this area is clearly established,” he said referring to the Federal Fair Housing Act amendments made in 1988 and the subsequent Americans With Disabilities Act, Whalen said,
Announcing a CARF Three-Year Accreditation.
The Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc.
931 Hamilton Blvd.
Griffin, Georgia 30223
The Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc. awarded Three-Year CARF Accreditation
The last CARF Accreditation was October 4, 2019
Griffin, Georgia — December 2, 2013 — CARF International announced that the Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc. has been accredited for a period of three years for its Community Employment Services: Employment Supports and Job Development, Community Integration, Employee Development Services, Organizational Employment Services and Supported Living programs. The latest accreditation is the second consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that the international accrediting body, CARF, has awarded to the Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc.
This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process. It has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit its commitment to offering programs and services that are measurable, accountable, and of the highest quality.
The Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization with offices at 931 Hamilton Boulevard. It has been providing services in the Spalding County and surrounding area since 1955.
CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF International, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services. For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF website at www.carf.org.
For additional information, contact the Griffin Area Resource Center, Inc. at (770) 228-9919.