The time is six ten.

I'm welcome everybody to unify Aston's Clark County special call session.

It's Thursday, June fourth.

The time is six ten.

This particular time I'd like for the clerk or commission to do roll call.

We have a core.

Thank you, madam court.

The purpose of the meeting will be to conduct cover here number three on the proposed FY Twenty Some budget as required by a taxpayer bill of rights passed by the Georgia General Summit in nineteen ninety nine.

The FY Mail recommended budget can be reviewed on the Ascart County website.

A budget summary section is available as part of overall budget document.

So at this particular time, if we have any comments from the public, please come up to the poly.

Hello, my name is Patrick Howard.

I'm a neighborhood leader with Family Connections, Communities, and Schools.

I serve the follower zone.

I'm located off of Millich Avenue.

And today we'll like to uh have a conversation about the budget.

Me as a neighborhood leader, I really love what I do, and as I was thinking about what I was going to say today when I volunteered to stand before you, I thought about all the stories that had already been shared about my co-workers, by the residents, some of the residents that we served, and what it took me back to is my own story, my 49-year-old story.

And I thought about just my life, and I was looking through those pages, and as I was looking through those pages, I saw romance, I saw love, I saw action, adventure, drama, horror, and uh, and I saw some comedy, and I was thinking about just how the fact that my life is still unfolding, and I'm in a good place in my life, and I was looking at the factors that put me in this place, and one of the main factors was the fact that I had a support system.

I had a support system when it came to my family, I had a support system when it came to my faith-based community.

I have a support system when it comes to my close friends and relatives, but then I also thought about the people that we serve, and I feel like most of them don't have that, and that's why our program is essential.

We are that extension of the family member with extension when it comes to support, with extension when it comes to resources and services.

Uh, we're in so many ways viewed as that walking Google.

Uh, you know, you can go on Google and find anything, but you can get lost in that too.

So it's great to be able to have someone that can help you navigate that information, and so one of the great parts about our job is that we're able to help those people navigate that information.

But the other piece too is that just like we're support system, you all are support system for us too because without your money, we can't do the work.

So all I'm saying is that if you will continue to support us, we can continue to support the community, and the community continue to move forward.

Uh, we've shared all kind of data over the times that we stayed at the podium, and we know and you know uh that if we help people now, which is preventative, then it'll save the city money later.

And so I'm just asking that you all consider that.

Continue to offer us support, but I also want to tell you that I thank you for the support that you already offered us, and that's all I have to say.

Also, my resident was supposed to be here, but life happens, which is a prime example of who we're working with, and so I didn't want to pressure them or make them feel bad about not being able to be here, uh, but they couldn't be here because something came up very important that they're dealing with, and tomorrow I'll have to jump in and help them out with that too.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Howard.

Good evening.

My name is Alice Kenman, and I live at 457 Sunset Drive.

I'm here tonight as the board vice president of family connection communities and schools of Athens, and I'd like to comment on the proposed funding for the neighborhood leaders program in the FY 2027 budget.

You've heard a lot of stories over the course of these hearings from neighborhood leaders and the residents they serve.

These stories are essential because they humanize the data that uh that around the need for these services.

The data are important, that's why we collect it and you ask us to collect it, but they can overwhelm us.

You've been told, for example, that neighborhood leaders field around 385 unique phone calls, emails, and texts every single day, and that the need for services is actually increasing in the current economy.

This can feel like water rushing over a dam going faster and faster, and there's no way to slow it down.

But when we hear from the actual people, we're able to reimagine that metaphor.

Now those 385 calls, texts, and emails aren't some catastrophic force, but voices of fellow humans who live and work and raise their children among us.

We realize that they aren't just bundles of need, they are our neighbors who contribute to the fabric of our community.

They're workers, they pay bills, they feed and nurture their families.

They are not even they, they are us.

When I joined the board of Family Connection Communities and Schools, I was a recently retired Athens Clark County Commissioner.

At the time, the neighborhood leaders program was brand new, but I could see it had potential to play a crucial role in our community.

I know I don't have to explain this to uh to you all, uh, but I learned a lot about the power of uh local action when I was on the commission.

Uh, I'm probably describing your own lives to you right there.

Um, I learned that we have powers at the local level that governments don't have at higher levels, um, specifically the power to see each other and to extend extend a helping hand.

It's only at the hyper-local level, at the neighborhood level, that we can physically see a neighbor who's teetering on the brink of catastrophe.

And it's from a neighbor that that person is most likely to accept help in averting that crisis.

Since I've been with family connection communities and schools, the neighborhood leaders program in partnership with this government has evolved from a band of caring neighbors into a trained network of resource brokers who have open door access to the communities they serve.

And while they certainly do connect residents to resources, they also do something equally, if not even more important.

They connect strategizers and decision makers like the people in this room to real-world data about what our neighbors need first to survive and then to thrive.

While I understand and accept the significant budget pressures you are all operating under, I hope you will decide to continue the partnership between Athens Clark County government and the neighborhood leaders.

This partnership provides a unique local safety net that protects all our residents.

It improves quality of life, promotes public safety, and protects neighborhoods.

I strongly believe it's a wise investment in our future.