Our mission
To reduce childhood homelessness by serving and empowering families through prevention, crisis intervention, housing support, education, and compassionate care management.
Our vision
Children and their families experience improved stability through reduced homelessness, empowerment, and pathways that support their success.
We are
a Cobb County-based organization that works exclusively to serve local families and individuals that are either homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
We believe in
providing tailored, long-term supportive services to our clients. We aim to ensure that once they leave our program, they will have all the necessary skills, tools, and resources to be self-sufficient enough to never again need us, or any organization like us.
We know
poverty comes in many forms, with many different causes, and we do our best to address every aspect of the whole person in order to help build a better future. We want families in our community to be equipped with all the resources, support and self-esteem they need to be successful.
We offer
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Multiple short-term housing programs
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Life skills classes on topics such as budgeting, parenting, and identifying toxic relationships
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A job lab to assist with career searching, resume writing, and interview coaching
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An on-site food pantry with fresh produce and breads, a wide variety of canned goods, and other essentials like diapers, infant formula, and personal hygiene items
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Employee Assistance Program management for local companies
For 60+ years
we have been working to become the organization we are today, and while our name may have changed a few times in the past five decades, our goals never have:
In 1960,
our founders Fred Bentley, Sr., Howard Ector, and Harry Holliday envisioned a better way to combine six existing emergency assistance organizations in the county under one roof to be more effective and efficient. Our founders approached United Way (formerly Community Chest) for funding. The result was Cobb County Emergency Aid Association, Inc. (CCEAA). During the first decade, a part-time director, Florence Beddingfield, worked tirelessly to help meet the emergency needs of Cobb citizens through financial assistance, furniture, clothing, medical supplies, food, and a Christmas program.
In the mid-80s,
CCEAA began to look closely at the barriers families faced in becoming independent and self-sufficient. Families repeatedly faced limited access to affordable transportation, childcare and housing, as well as a lack of education and training to secure and maintain employment. The organization determined the removal of those barriers was the real key to breaking the cycle of poverty. The organization also changed its name to Cobb Family Resources.
Cobb Family Resources then adjusted its mission to find real, lasting solutions that would not only impact our clients’ current condition, but also ensure their future success. Over the next two decades, CFR continued to grow, learn, and adapt in changing and difficult times. In 2004, the agency changed its name to the Center for Family Resources (CFR).
In 2005,
through the Bold Vision Capital Campaign, CFR refurbished an existing “box building” at 995 Roswell Street in Marietta into the Mansour Conference Center, a nonprofit tenant center and meeting space for the community. More than a dozen nonprofits are located in the Mansour Conference Center, including the United Way of Cobb County and Sheltering Arms Child Development Center. The Mansour Conference Center also hosts more than 12,000 people a year for meetings, conferences, training and special events, providing earned income for CFR.
From a small emergency aid agency in the 1960s to a multi-function human services organization today, CFR has a long history of providing critical services for families and individuals in need.
From the beginning, CFR has been committed to collaboration and community partnership. We are proud to have played a part in the start up of many organizations who now have their own nonprofit status. These include:
• COBB COLLABORATIVE
• COBB WORKS
• COBB HUMAN SERVICES COALITION
• WINTER SHELTER
• THE EXTENSION
• COBB CHRISTMAS
• COBB CARE
• THE EDGE CONNECTION