Our Town: Roswell charity broadens its scope

When North Fulton Community Charities opened its doors in Roswell 29 years ago, the mission was to help those less fortunate. The primary focus has long been to prevent homelessness, but food, clothing and emergency financial assistance are also part of the nonprofit’s services that have grown along with the geographic area. In 2011, NFCC tallied  20,500 food distributions, 2,000 clothing vouchers and $1.2 million in aid.

A few years ago, Eden Purdy saw another need that NFCC could fill.

“We began talking about a broad education program,” said Purdy, an Alpharetta resident who started at NFCC as a volunteer five years ago. “The biggest need was not only in financial literacy, but in job coaching, GED tutoring and English-language skills. You know you can’t find a better job or further your education without a GED. And we worked with a population that was about 40 percent Hispanic, and if you can’t speak the language, you can’t find a job.”

Programs that develop those skills move people closer to self-sufficiency, Purdy said. Last year, classes kicked off in one of the facility’s small conference rooms, and by the end of 2011, 143 sessions had been held. In February, after all of the funding fell in place, NFCC opened a new education facility across from its main offices on Elkins Road.

“In our first month there, we held more than 140 classes,” said Purdy, now NFCC’s program director. “We did a survey in 2010 to see what kinds of classes people wanted and what services they needed, and it’s grown from there.”

Several nonprofit partners lead the programs. CredAbility, a credit counseling group, conducts classes on budgeting and spending. Jewish Family Career Services runs ESL classes. Personnel One, an employment agency, offers job search workshops. Atlanta Legal Aid Society gives seminars and advice. The Atlanta Community Food Bank offers benefits screenings.

“We’ve also just introduced computer classes,” said Purdey. “But the job coaching and searching classes where people can practice their interview skills are very popular, and we’re looking for more volunteers to lead those. With the recession, we’re seeing more and more middle class folks -- even people who have Masters degrees -- looking for help, and some of them have not interviewed in five or 10 years.”

Richard Elan of Roswell volunteers several times a month to teach GED classes in math, science and social studies. The retired Fulton County teacher who began working with NFCC last fall.

“I work with a lot of people who were interrupted from going to school or who got sidetracked,” he said. “The job market today is hard, even if you’re a college grad, and it’s worse if you’re not a high school grad. I know people don’t associate North Fulton with life challenges, but they do exist here. This is a great place that’s motivational, and everybody needs positive reinforcement.”

The free classes are for any resident of North Fulton, Purdy pointed out.

“We want to target as many people as possible,” she said. “We have classes in the evenings, on the weekends and during the day. Anyone can go online and see the schedules and sign up.”

Information about NFCC and its programs is online at nfcchelp.org.