Fire Ravages EBA Buildings, Closing School This Week
True Citizen Staff Writer
Waynesboro Fire Department Chief Deputy Robert Parrish was awakened by his wife who heard the call on the radio in their home. He arrived on the scene at about the same time as the third county unit and offered the city's assistance. Both engines from the WFD were dispatched and seven men eventually provided extra manpower along with 29 from the county.Fireman had to replenish their
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EBA's prom was scheduled for Friday, April 19, in the school's gym, but will have to be relocated. The junior class had spent several weeks decorating and preparing the gym for the traditional sendoff to members of the senior class. Several area groups, including the Burke County Board of Education, had offered some of their facilities as an alternate sight for the dance. It will be held at the Burke County Office Park.
The school's board of directors held a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night, but discussion centered on the next steps for the school. The school's insurance adjustor was present at the meeting to walk the board through the upcoming process and answer questions.
Wayne Crockett, chairman of the board, said it is their resolve to move through this process as quickly as possible. "Our plans are for it (the damaged building) to be alive and well for school to start this fall," he said.
A beleaguered Danny Jones, the school's headmaster, said, "There has been a great outpouring from the surrounding community. First National Bank has started a Fire Fund with a donation of $1,000 . there have been calls with people wanting to help clean up or build, when that time arrives . and it will be re-built."
For more information on making a donation to the EBA Fire Fund, call Jerry Salter at (706) 554-9977 or (706) 554-7085.
True Citizen Staff Writer
(Editor's
note: This is the second of a two-part series The True Citizen has done to
cover the issue of Family Violence in Burke County.)
Read the front page of any major newspaper or turn on the evening news, and
you'll find leading stories of major crimes in this country. Cases that are
odd or unique in some way, the kind of things that don't happen every day.
But what if the crime is a regular occurrence, something that quite literally
does happen everyday. A crime that knows no social or economical boundaries,
yet still does not receive the same coverage as murders and high profile thefts.
Child abuse is just such a crime, and it occurs on a daily basis all over
this country. Unfortunately, Burke County is not excluded from these types
of crimes.
DFACS received 22 referrals in January of 2002 and 24 within the first two weeks of February. Given these numbers, Burke County's average of referrals could rise to 288 calls for the year. That's an increase of only eight possible cases by the end of 2002. In the numbers game of statistics, that might not be considered a large increase. But try explaining that to the eight extra children who will be neglected, abused or molested, becoming another addition to a growing national statistic. Also keep in mind that for every incident reported, there is, most likely, another one occurring that no one will ever know anything about.
It is important to note that not every referral is substantiated. Sometimes a claim is unfounded or blatantly untrue, the result of someone seeking to accuse another out of anger or malice. Since every claim must be investigated, these bogus calls take up the valuable time of caseworkers and drain resources that would otherwise be used on legitimate cases. Also, it is not just claims of physical abuse that must be investigated. Claims include mental and physiological abuse; as well as neglect or the lack of general care for a child: adequate food, proper clothing and housing, basic hygiene and safe living conditions. These are basic needs that so many of us take for granted on a daily basis.
Combating these problems can be difficult and seemingly never ending. In the past, agencies like DFACS felt as though they were on their own with little help from lawmakers or the system. Penny Oliver, a Social Services supervisor with the Burke County DFACS, has 17 years of experience in social services and she says state agencies are finally trying to bridge the gaps in the system. "The system is changing. Georgia is really starting to look at the children in these situations," she says. Stephanie Winfrey and Vickie Petrea are both Child Protection Services (CPS) Investigators with the Burke County DFACS office. Their work takes them from behind a desk into these households, and they see the problems of abuse and neglect firsthand. If a child is in a harmful situation, it is their job to gather the evidence needed to convince a judge that something must be done.
When asked what can be done to combat this problem, all three give the same answer and it is not a complicated one: education. And it begins with children. Those that grow up in abusive households do not learn the proper ways of dealing with anger and conflicts. "It (abuse) is a definite cycle. You must teach them (children) an alternate way of living," Winfrey says. Oliver thinks schools, law enforcement and other agencies are doing a good job of aiding in this education. "They are arming them (children) well in schools, what is sad is that they need to be taught much younger," she says
.
Petrea and Winfrey would like to see more community involvement in the lives of these children with more emphasis on community resources. One source of aid that is always needed is foster care homes. There is certain criteria that must be met by potential foster parents, and all applicants must be approved. Single or two parent homes with or without their own children are acceptable. If long-term care seems like too much, emergency foster care and respite care homes are also needed. These foster families would take in a child that has been removed from a household because of an emergency situation and would care for the child until a more permanent placement can be made. If you or your family are interested in becoming a foster family or for more information call the Burke County DFACS office at 706-554-7751.
This is the same number used to call in reports of neglect or abuse. Reports can be made anonymously and all reports are completely confidential. When asked if they can ever become numb to the things they see on a daily basis or if they can learn to remove themselves from becoming emotionally involved, Winfrey plainly states, "If it doesn't bother you, then it's time to go home."
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Organ of Burke County, Waynesboro, Sardis, Midville, Keysville, and Girard
