About Us
HISTORY
Douglas C.O.R.E. began with a simple but powerful idea: our community is stronger when we work together.
In 1994, representatives from local service agencies, schools, government, faith-based organizations, and the community came together to create what was then known as the Douglas County Children and Youth Coalition. A defining moment came in 1997, when we secured support from the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, allowing us to establish our first Board, strengthen community partnerships, change our name to Douglas C.O.R.E. and build the collaborative foundation that continues to guide our work today.
As Douglas County grew, so did we. We became a place where organizations could come together to identify needs, share resources, develop solutions, and strengthen services for local families. Over the years, our work has included family support, youth development, mentoring, education, workforce readiness, substance-use prevention, mental health, foster and kinship care, and assistance for families experiencing financial hardship.
One of our early milestones was the creation of the Douglas C.O.R.E. Resource Guide, a 159-page directory that connected residents and more than 200 local organizations with vital community resources. We also established Youth C.O.R.E., helped form the Douglas County Prevention Coalition, supported major youth workforce initiatives, and provided training, grant assistance, and organizational development to nonprofits throughout the county.
When our community faced new challenges, we have adapted. We supported families following one of Douglas County's most significant floods, expanded access to mental health services, developed partnerships to provide utility assistance, supported educational advocacy and foster-care initiatives, and responded to the opioid crisis through prevention education, safe medication storage and disposal, and access to overdose-prevention resources.
More than 30 years later, collaboration remains at the heart of who we are. We listen to our community, identify gaps, connect people to resources, strengthen organizations, and bring partners together to create solutions that make Douglas County a stronger place to live, work, learn, and grow.
MISSION
Douglas C.O.R.E. is a community collaborative that supports families from birth through adulthood to achieve health and success at home, in school, and in the community.
The mission is accomplished by:
Promoting partnerships and collaborative efforts
Identifying community needs, strengths, and resources
Prioritizing community issues
Sharing experience, knowledge, and resources to plan solutions
Collaborating to raise grant funds and coordinating existing resources around a common agenda
VAlues
Douglas C.O.R.E. is a collaborative among the government, private sector, citizens, educators, faith community, volunteer services, health and human service organizations of Douglas County that value:
Input from the community
The power of collaboration (joint action, information sharing, and redirecting resources)
Prevention and appropriate intervention
Measurable outcomes and accountability of results
Good stewardship and the efficient use of resources
Responsibility and standards at the individual, familial, and community levels
Support of organizations in the community
Vision
Douglas County, Georgia, is a community of strong, healthy families with access to coordinated health and human services, which addresses problems countywide and positively affects the quality of life.
Douglas C.O.R.E. is a formal partnership that keeps up with the heartbeat of the community and pulls the whole community together by constantly assessing needs, assessing improvements, providing information to the public, and securing grants as needed.
As a result, Douglas County serves as an example of how communities have taken charge of their future.
Executive DireCTOR
Amanda Bryant has served as the Executive Director of Douglas C.O.R.E., A Community Organizing Resources for Excellence, Inc. for the past 22 years. During her tenure at Douglas C.O.R.E., she has organized over two-hundred public forums to educate the citizens of Douglas County regarding the resources available in Douglas County, established a Youth C.O.R.E. group that participates in National Youth Service Day Projects, hosted in-service trainings, written grants, developed strategic plans, implemented projects, mentored new service providers, and collaborated with numerous agencies, non-profits, governmental entities, youths, elderly, and faith-based organizations to improve life in Douglas County. Amanda Bryant has a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Dillard University.
