Families First

Families First serves as the fiscal agent and hub for two sites in Gwinnett County (Rockbridge Elementary School and Bradford Gwinnett Apartments) and is Georgia’s largest non-profit family service agency providing holistic services for at-risk children and families.  The agency responds to pressing community issues such as homelessness, abandonment, child abuse and neglect, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, and struggling single-parent families. The agency presently serves 110 children, and 98% of its families are Hispanic or Latino.

In 2002, the SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) program was launched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta's early education division.  SPARK's goal was to help communities create successful transitions to Kindergarten for vulnerable young children.  Gwinnett (along with DeKalb County) was one of the hub communities funded for 5 years to create a circle and continuum of support for children and their families.  Today, Families First has a new program influenced from the SPARK model called CHISPA (Spanish word for "spark").  CHISPA continues to enjoy United Way support and is an active member of United Way's early learning network, Partners Advancing Childhood Education - PACE. 

CHISPA serves low-income families with young children, most of who live at or near one of the three Norcross residential communities - Rockbridge Apartments, Bradford-Gwinnett Apartments and the Norcross Atlanta Mobile Home Community.  In addition to low-income, all of the families served through the program are English-Language learners of Hispanic or Latino descent.  Ninety-five percent of families are newly arrived from Mexico.  Families First is highly committed to serving metro Atlanta's fastest growing community of Hispanic immigrants because they are comprised largely of young families who are low-income and typically need services to enhance family well-being and sustainability. 

Up to 32.5% of CHISPA families speak Spanish in their home, versus 15.7% for Gwinnett County and 7.2% for the state of Georgia.  Evidence of the agency's committment to serving the Hispanic community includes eight full-time Spanish speaking staff in three programs (including CHISPA).  Of the eight staff members, five are native speakers of Latino heritage.