Grandparents Raising Granchildren Program Recieves Grant From Jackson EMC & Walton EMC

Jackson EMC Foundation presented $5400 to ACCA’s Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program. Pictured from left to right, Johnny Fowler, ORU Board Member; Paige Tidwell, Program Director for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren; Eve Anthony, Chief Operations Officer for ACCA, and Gene Mullis, Neese District Manager.

ATHENS, Ga. — Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, a program of the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA), is a recent recipient of grants from the Jackson EMC Foundation and Walton Electric Trust through Operation Round Up. Operation Round Up, a program that provides financial support to organizations and individuals, is a grant made in the name of the members of Jackson EMC and Walton EMC, who fund the foundation by rounding up their bill payment each month.  Jackson EMC Foundation awarded the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren $5400 and Walton Electric Trust awarded $3500.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren provides support to grandparents who are primary caregivers for their grandchildren. “Georgia ranks sixth in the nation in the number of children under 18 living in their grandparents’ household,” says Paige Tidwell, program director at ACCA. The program provides parent education, information and referrals, health monitoring, childcare, transportation, family activities, and support group meetings for both the grandchildren and grandparents.  It can also provide legal services when needed.

Tidwell stated, “there are variety of reasons that grandparents choose to raise their grandchildren, including parent substance abuse, incarceration, disability, or death. Our services help them manage their responsibilities while maintaining as much normalcy for the children as possible.”