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Updated: January 2, 2023 @ 9:44 am
An effort by the Mountain View High School football community to help one of its families, which lost its home in a fire on Christmas Day, has exceeded expectations.
These are the top stories from the past week.
As U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux’s final days in Congress ticked away during the holidays, she highlighted one last batch of funding she was able to secure for the 7th Congressional District before leaving office.
Bourdeaux, who leaves office this weekend, said the federal Fiscal Appropriations Bill that was passed by the House and sent to President Joe Biden in December included nearly $13 million for projects in her district. In all, 14 7th Congressional District projects were included in the appropriations bill.
Some of those projects include money to expand transit in Gwinnett County, support work to convert the Hooper-Renwick School building in Lawrenceville into the Hooper-Renwick library branch and support efforts to help victims of sexual and domestic violence.
“I am so glad to see my community projects passed into law in this year’s appropriations bills,” Bourdeaux said in a statement. “Each of these projects fills a critical need for our community, and am pleased to announce $13 million in community project funding, which will be delivered back to our district.
“Gwinnett and Forsyth counties are growing so fast that some critical social services and infrastructure have not had time to catch up. These projects invest in key services and key parts of our community that will help our families thrive.”
This will be the last time that north Gwinnett and Forsyth County get funding allocations as part of the 7th Congressional District. Starting in 2023, Forsyth and parts of the Buford area will move to the 6th Congressional District while most of the northern half of Gwinnett will move to the 9th Congressional District.
Meanwhile, part of north Fulton County and the part of Gwinnett County that is south of U.S. 78 will be added to the 7th Congressional district.
A major chunk of the 7th Congressional District money included in the appropriations bill will support transit expansion in Gwinnett County.
That funding includes $2 million for Gwinnett County Transit to establish microtransit service in the Buford and Suwanee area. Another $2 million was allocated to the county’s transit system for bus shelters for a new Route 25 local bus service.
Another big allocation for Gwinnett county is nearly $2.99 million to pay for the replacement of 2.5 miles of aging water distribution mains that have been experiencing breakdowns and other service issues.
The appropriations bill also includes $1.28 million for AboutFace-USA, for Forsyth County-based organization whose Project GROW effort is designed to help veterans with behavioral health and workplace development.
Bourdeaux got $900,000 in the appropriations bill for View Point Health so it can build a Crisis Walk-in Center that will make full mental health care available after hours and on weekends.
Mosaic Georgia will get nearly $1.03 million for 24/7 victim services and a Mosaic Resilience Center to provide crisis intervention for people who are victims of sexual and domestic violence as well as victim advocacy, forensic medical care, mental health and therapy services that will be available for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and sex trafficking.
Another noteworthy project that is getting funding from the appropriations bill is the Hooper-Renwick Memorial Library. The Gwinnett Public Library Foundation will get $500,000 to acquire print and non-print materials which will be used to create a special collection that will be focused on African-American heritage.
Other funding allocations for the 7th Congressional District in the appropriations bill include:
♦ $195,475 for Helping Mamas so it can distribute diapers, period products and car seats.
♦ $462,000 for Ser Familia to enhance a services center designed to help Latino families.
♦ $400,861 for the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta to expand tutoring options in an effort to address learning loss.
♦ $250,000 for Corners Outreach to buy passenger vans that will transport students to and from afterschool and summer programs at Corners Academy in Peachtree Corners.
♦ $300,000 for the Latin American Association to help the organization prepare Latinos in Gwinnett County to enter the workforce through training, vocational classes and other support.
♦ $612,320 for Creative Enterprises to help the Lawrenceville-based organization provide job development, training, placement and related vocational rehabilitation services for people with disabilities.
$399,952 for the College of Education at the University of North Georgia’s Cumming campus to expand mentoring and workship programs for senior interns.
Gwinnett County police are looking for a woman accused of robbing one bank and trying to rob another one in mid-December.
Arrest warrants have been taken out against Janae Samantha Fareaux, 22, according to Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle.
Fareaux is accused of going to a Wells Fago at 1028 Killian Hill Road in unincorporated Lilburn on Dec. 14 and demanding that she be taken into the vault. Winderweedle said she left the bank without getting any money, however.
A day later, Fareaux allegedly went to a Truist bank located at 2171 Pleasant Hill Road in unincorporated Duluth and passed a note to a teller. She allegedly left Truist with more than $2,000.
Winderweedle said Fareaux was wearing a long black wig, gray T-shirt over a long sleeve black shirt, black pants, black shoes and green socks the last tie she was seen. She may be driving a red or maroon 2019-2020 Hyundai Elantra.
Anyone who has information about Fareaux’s whereabouts is asked to call detectives at 770-513-5300 or Crime Stoppers, which lets tipsters remain anonymous, at 404-577-8477. They can also visit www.stopcrimeATL.com.
Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest and indictment. Tipsters are asked to reference case No. GP220101784.
An effort by the Mountain View High School football community to help one of its families, which lost its home in a fire on Christmas Day, has exceeded expectations this week.
The Van Horn family was hit by a fire on Sunday night, and the home ended up being a total loss. The family’s father, Michael, is the Mountain View football Touchdown Club president and the two sons in the family have played football at the school.
Mountain View football officials set out to raise $4,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to help the family.
As of Thursday night, the fundraising effort had raised $19,377 from 163 donations.
“We are setting up a page now to help them with immediate needs to replace possessions (clothing, food/grocery, and home goods) while the rebuild takes place,” organizer Todd Welborn said on the GoFundMe page. “In the moment, we can make things less stressful with a donation and message here.”
The football team also held a donation drive, where people could donate clothing and gift cards to the family, for two hours on Wednesday morning.
“We had tremendous support for our donation drive,” Mountain View Head Football coach John Poitevint said in a Facebook post. “Huge thanks to our parent, coach and administration volunteers that came to support the Van Horns.”
The GoFundMe campaign can be found at bit.ly/3WTyjts.
People who live in northwest Gwinnett County will have a chance to get a year’s worth of free pizza next week.
A new Pizza Hut location, which is run by Flynn Restaurant Group, opened at 1550 Buford Highway in Buford on Dec. 23, but it’s what the new store has planned for its grand opening festivities next week that will have tongues salivating. The first 25 customers who are in line at the store on Jan. 6 will get free pizza for a year.
“Flynn Restaurant Group is excited to bring the Pizza Hut dining experience to Buford,” Flynn Restaurant Group Vice-President of Marketing Randy Bates said. “We approach each of our new locations as an investment in the community through job creation and philanthropic initiatives. We look forward to delivering great tasting food and impeccable customer service to new guests in Gwinnett County.”
There are some limits on what pizzas qualify for the free pizza for a year, and what locations the pizzas can be picked up at. The deal is only valid at locations owned by Flynn Restaurant Group — which happens to be Pizza Hut’s largest franchisee and which owns 10 other Pizza locations in Gwinnett County.
In addition to the Buford location, Flynn Restaurant Group also owns locations in Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Auburn, Dacula, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross and Snellville. It also owns 15 other locations in metro Atlanta, including stores nearby cities such as Cumming, Flowery Branch, Hoschton and Alpharetta.
Other limitations on the free pizza for a year offer customers only being able to use it to get two complimentary specialty pizzas or up to three topping large pizzas per month for a year, a limit of one pizza per party, it only being valid on carryout orders, and it only being valid on Thin N’ Crispy, original pan and hand tossed crusts.
The new store is expected to add 15 new jobs to the Buford and Sugar Hill area.
On Jan. 1, 2019, history was made as Gwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque and school board member Everton Blair became the first African-Americans to serve on their respective boards.
Four years later, they will both leave their respective offices this weekend.
Saturday will mark the last official day of Fosque’s and Blair’s terms of office. Blair opted to not seek re-election this year while Fosque’s bid for a second term in the County Commission District 4 ended in defeat last month.
At Fosque’s last commission business meeting on Dec. 13, she quoted Nelson Mandela as she reflected on her time in office.
“He said, ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we led,’ “ Fosque said. “I hope and I pray that I made a difference in your lives as a commissioner, and I want you to know that you definitely made a difference — a positive, not just a difference but a positive difference — in my life and I thank you all.”
Fosque and Blair were celebrated by their respective colleagues earlier this month, not only for the historic firsts that their elections represented, but also for the work they did on their respective boards.
Fosque, for example, was hailed for her work on Project RESET and Project RESET 2.0, programs that she championed and helped get off the ground to help families with financial assistance to stay in their residences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fosque’s fellow commissioners presented flowers and a proclamation to her at the December zoning public hearing, which was her last official meeting as a member of the Board of Commissioners.
Meanwhile, Blair received a plaque from Gwinnett County Public Schools Superintendent Calvin Watts during the school board’s December meeting.
Blair, who was the board’s chairman in 2021, was recognized for bringing “innovation, the innovative ideas” and “valuable leadership input” to the board and for his commitment to the school system during Watts’ presentation.
There have also been challenges during Blair’s four years on the school board, however.
First there was the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut schools down in the spring of 2020 and then move to a hybrid in-person and digital model during the 2020-2021 school year.
And, longtime former GCPS Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks’ contract was terminated in 2021, nearly a year earlier than it was scheduled to end. GCPS’ new discipline policy, which has been the subject of pushback from teachers and parents, was implemented earlier this year as well.
“I have had a really tremendous time serving as the board member representing District 4,” Blair said at the Dec. 15 school board meeting. “It has not been easy by any stretch, nor was it predictable, but it was certainly very rewarding and challenging.”
The Christmas weekend was not a merry one for many Gwinnett County residents who were affected by fires between Friday and Sunday.
Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services officials said firefighters responded to nearly 1,200 incidents between late Friday and Sunday afternoon. Those incidents included several fires that occurred on Christmas Day.
“Firefighters have worked tirelessly through the holiday weekend, braving exposure to the extreme cold to carry out our mission of saving lives and protecting property,” fire officials said in an announcement about the weekend fires.
Firefighters spent nearly nine hours at the scene of a fire at the Cortland Portico Apartments, which are located at 2110 Preston Park Drive NW in Duluth.
Crews were called to the scene at 3 a.m. and firefighters found heavy flames coming from a three-four split apartment building when they arrived at 3:08 p.m. One resident had to be rescued from a second-floor window during the fire.
Firefighters ran into some issues while trying to fight the flames.
“Firefighters advanced fire hoses up the stairwell towards the fire while other crews began evacuating the residents,” Capt. Ryan McGiboney said. “Meanwhile, fire apparatus operators discovered that the water supply to the closest hydrants had been closed. A working hydrant was located near the apartment complex entrance.”
Firefighters also had to withdraw from the building at one point due to deteriorating conditions.
“Once ladder trucks were able to knock the bulk of the fire down, firefighters re-entered the building to complete a search for fire victims,” McGiboney said. “Due to structural damage, firefighters were unable to complete a search in one apartment unit on the third floor and one apartment unit on the fourth floor.
“Apartment management informed firefighters that they had made contact with all residents to confirm that all residents had escaped safely.”
McGiboney said crews got the fire under control at about 5:25 a.m., but firefighters remained on the scene until about 11:11 a.m.
The Red Cross said its Disaster Action Team also provided assistance to families displaced by a fire that occurred at an apartment complex on Preston Park Drive in unincorporated Duluth on Sunday morning.
Eight families, with a total of 31 people, initially received Red Cross assistance after the fire, but the organization said it expected that number to increase over the next few days.
Gwinnett fire officials said 81 people lived in the building.
Meanwhile, fire officials also highlighted three house fires which occurred on Sunday. The house fires have each been ruled as accidents.
A family was displaced by a fire that broke out at shortly after 1:30 a.m. at a home on the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Run in Lawrenceville. Firefighters responded at about 1:40 a.m. and had the flames under control about 20 minutes later.
Officials said the fire caused heavy damage to the second floor of the home above the garage. No one was reported to have been injured in the fire.
Another family was displaced by a fire that began shortly before 9 a.m. on Sunday at a home on the 3000 block of Grove View Court in Dacula. Firefighters responded at 8:53 a.m. and had the flames under control about 25 minutes later.
The family that was at the home included seven people and they are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross. Two adults were treated or minor injuries at the scene by fire officials. The flames caused heavy damage to the garage and attic on one side of the home.
And, firefighters responded to a fire at home on the 2700 block of Carleton Gold road in Dacula at about 3:28 p.m. on Sunday. Crews got the fire under control about 30 minutes after they arrived, but flames caused heavy damage to the second floor and the attic of the home.
The vinyl siding of a neighbor’s home sustained some minor radiant hear damage from the fire as well. A family of five was displaced by the fire and they received assistance from the American Red Cross.
The fire department is warning residents to practice home heating safety in the coming days as overnight temperatures drop near or below freezing before warming up this weekend.
Some tips include:
♦ Only using space or kerosene heaters that are evaluated by nationally recognized laboratories, such as Underwriters Laboratories (which is also known as simply UL)
♦ Using only crystal clear K-1 kerosene or a fuel that is recommended by the manufacturer in kerosene heaters (Gasoline and camp stove fuel should not be used to refuel a heater)
♦ Turning a kerosene heater off before refueling it, and only refueling it outdoors
♦ Turning off portable generators and letting them cool down before refueling them
♦ Avoiding the use of charcoal or flammable liquids in a fireplace
♦ Extinguishing fires before going to bed
♦ Not burning cardboard boxes, trash or other debris in a fire
♦ Never leaving a fire unattended
The Gwinnett Safety 411 page can be found at Bit.ly/GCHomeHeatingSafety.
Gwinnett County officials are seeking state grant funds to repave more than 50 miles of roadways around the county.
County commissioners voted earlier this month to give Gwinnett Department of Transportation officials the OK to apply for more than $7 million in grant funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation. The county will use $2.1 million in 2017 special purpose local option sales tax funds as a local match in an effort to secure the grant.
In all, county officials intend to resurface nearly five dozen miles of roadways in an effort to extend their lifespans.
“The (Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant) list includes seventy-six (76) segments of roads that total 55.40 centerline miles,” Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson wrote in a letter to GDOT District State Aid Coordinator Shane Giles.
“The list Includes both local and collector roads that range from two to five lanes wide that will be resurfaced throughout the county.”
The grant application includes a six-page list of resurfacing projects, according to documents presented to commissioners for approval.
There are some heavily traveled roadways on the list. Some examples of these include: McGinnis Ferry Road, between Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Satellite Boulevard; Steve Reynolds Boulevard, between Interstate 85 and Club Drive; Lilburn-Stone Mountain Road, between Arcado and Rockbridge Roads; and Medlock Bridge Road, between South Old Peachtree Road and State Route 141.
The list also contains several lesser traveled roads, such as Harbins Road, between Alcovy Road and Brooks Road, or Dee Kennedy Road, between the Gwinnett-Barrow county line and State Route 124.
For anyone who thinks that one person can’t effect a positive impact in multiple communities, meet Alessandra Ferrara-Miller, the founder of Forsyth County-based All For Lunch.
Five years ago, the California native established All For Lunch Inc. in Suwanee to pay off the lunch debt for four elementary schools in the North Gwinnett Cluster. Ferrara-Miller’s efforts have since blossomed throughout schools in the metro Atlanta area.
In mid-December, Ferrara-Miller announced that her one-person nonprofit erased the lunchroom debt in more than 250 schools in Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb, Barrow and Fayette counties. All For Lunch gave more than $130,000 to schools — including more than $75,000 in Gwinnett — so that families wouldn’t go into the holiday season with outstanding school lunch debt.
On Dec. 19, Ferrara-Miller said she planned to meet with administrators in Forsyth County to eliminate lunch debt in more than 40 schools before the end of 2022.
“To be able to take that financial stress off the plates of so many families that are struggling, especially during the holiday season, really is more than I ever envisioned when I launched this five years ago,” said Ferrara-Miller, who lives in Cumming with her husband Patrick Miller (a Peachtree Corners native) and their children Miabella, 11, and Jackson 6. “It’s amazing to see this, because it’s all donor-raised and there are so many people who want to help these families. That’s been very inspiring.”
Ferrara-Miller said she got the idea to pay off school lunch debt after seeing a news report about a young student in Alabama who was sent home from school one day with a stamp on his arm that said, “I need lunch money.”
“The story made the news because the parents were infuriated — not because they couldn’t pay for his lunch but because he was embarrassed and shamed in front of his peers,” she said. “At the time, my daughter was 5 years old and at that age, you don’t even understand what money is. I can only imagine how a situation like that would make her or one of her friends feel. I was talking to my husband and I was so upset. I felt there has to be something we can do.”
A digital asset portfolio manager by day, Ferrara-Miller established All For Lunch (using the book “Nonprofits for Dummies” as a guide) and began her push to put a dent in the debt many families accrue in school cafeterias across the metro area.
According to the Educational Data Initiative, more than 1.5 million students can’t afford a school lunch, resulting in a school meal debt of some $250 million. More than three-quarters of the schools in the country have unpaid lunch debt and at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, the free lunches that had been offered to students in the wake of the COVID pandemic were no longer offered.
Although school meal debt is a community issue everywhere, awareness is generally limited to those who are running up the bill.
“I’ve been talking about this every opportunity I have to anyone who will listen,” she said. “One of the things I’ve found out about school lunch debt and food insecurity as a whole is that there’s not a lot of awareness. You hear about it during the holidays but this is a year-round issue. When people become aware of it, they want to help.”
Since All For Lunch has no employees or overhead, Ferrara-Miller is able to take 100% of all donations to pay off schools’ debt. She got the nonprofit off the ground through a social media initiative, and slowly but surely, she’s getting the word out.
“Our first donation came in December 2018,” said Ferrara-Miller, who added the nonprofit has raised and paid out more than $250,000 since its founding in Suwanee. “That was the North Gwinnett Cluster where my daughter was in school. We paid off all four of the elementary schools from a Facebook fundraiser. From that point on, it just started growing. We started bringing awareness that this was an issue in Gwinnett County and over the years, it’s grown by word-of-mouth.”
She said that some regular donors have particular counties or schools earmarked for monthly donations, and churches and other groups have been generous with resources, knowing that for many students, lunch may be the only substantial meal they have all day. In addition, some schools have funds in reserve so students are able to have lunch without amassing additional debt.
“Going into (the 2022-23 school year), everything has been done differently because people are having to pay for lunch again after the federal waiver expired,” Ferrara-Miller said. “We want to do as much as we could in December so we could come back to a clean slate in January. My goal is to get more people to sponsor and support schools in their community with monthly donations.”
For the time being, All For Lunch — which in the new year plans to pursue debt-reduction opportunities in Rockdale and Henry counties — remains small but mighty, although Ferrara-Miller is always happily looking for volunteers.
“So far, it’s a one-mom gang,” she quipped. “I would love to grow and have a team. Right now we’re able to put 100% back in the schools and we have a fairly efficient system. I’d love to grow, but it’s hard to get people to do something like this for free. I welcome any and all help.”
For more information on All For Lunch, visit www.allforlunch.org.
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