|
A Tradition of Giving and Caring for Over 40
Years
The Community Action Mission Program (C.A.M.P.)
was founded in 1968 by representatives from
the First Baptist Church in Austell, St.
John Vianney Catholic Church, New Hope
Missionary Baptist Church in Powder Springs
and the Austell Presbyterian Church.
The opening of the first outreach ministry
was a clothing distribution center made
possible when Sid Amos donated the use of an
old pharmacy building on Mozley Street in
Austell. Later a thrift store would be an
outgrowth of the clothing center and would
help provide money to fund other C.A.M.P.
projects.
The Rev. Joseph Conyers of Austell
Presbyterian Church led a group of
volunteers to pick up free government
surplus food in Marietta and deliver it back
to his church for a monthly distribution.
It was from this early project that the CAMP
Food Pantry was established.
In 1969 C.A.M.P. began its Emergency
Financial Assistance program to assist
families with prescription medications,
household utilities and rent. This program
operated out of many different loaned church
office spaces for several years.
In February 1984, a house was purchased at
2761 Washington Street in Austell to
accommodate expanding services. In the
spring of the same year the South Cobb
Rotary Club sponsored a ”Jerry Clower Show”
and raised enough money to pay off the
mortgage in full.
In 1992, C.A.M.P. became incorporated and
filed for official 501(c)3 tax exempt
status. For legal clarification, the name
was modified to
include the words Sweetwater Valley (the
geographical location)
to the existing Community Action
Mission Program. It was also during this
year that the first paid staff person was
hired; Ruth Reid, Executive Director.
Later that same year, the Food Pantry moved
from its small quarters at 2761 Washington
Street into the Kate Westmoreland Center,
the former Austell Elementary School
building. This was followed with the
renovation and expansion of the Clothing
Closet, which was already housed in the Kate
Westmoreland Center. Office spaces were
added for the director and the chairperson
of financial assistance. C.A.M.P.
was finally operating under one roof!
Operations continued in the old Austell
Elementary School building from 1992 until
November 2001. C.A.M.P. had grown through
the years in number of people served, and
numbers of volunteers. With ever increasing
numbers seeking assistance from our
organization it was time to find larger
quarters to allow the organization to grow.
C.A.M.P. completed a successful
capital campaign to raise funds to purchase
the former Atlanta West Carpets building on
Hotel Street in Austell. With the sale of
the property on Washington Street and
funding from private foundations, the Cobb
County Community Development Block Grant
Program, the State of Georgia, and other
fundraisers, C.A.M.P. was able to close on the
building March 30, 2001. C.A.M.P. quickly
began serious renovations of the building
with additional grant funding and proceeds
from the sale of donated property, and moved
into the new facility on November 28, 2001 –
Debt Free! Not one penny was used from the
program services budget.
C.A.M.P.’s next goal was to make health care
services available to the disadvantaged.
Immediate plans were made to raise funds and
begin the construction of a 6,000 sq. ft.
medical and dental facility within our
building. In 2005 the Community Health
Center, Inc., a state-of-the-art medical and
dental center, opened its doors to their
first patients; again completely debt free!
A separate 501(c)3 organization was formed
to oversee the operation of the health
center. Today the Community Health Center
continues to offer free and low-cost medical
and dental services in the community.
In 2008 C.A.M.P. formed an alliance with the
Christian Aid Center in Lithia Springs,
founded by the First Baptist Church of
Lithia Springs and the Lithia Springs United
Methodist Church. At a time when the
economy was taking a downturn and requests
for services were at an all time high for
both agencies, this significant partnership resulted
in a reduction of overhead costs and a much
needed expansion of client services into
Lithia Springs and the east Douglas County
area.
A legal DBA, “Doing Business As”, was filed
in 2009 and operation began under the new
acronym for C.A.M.P. ~ Christian Aid Mission Partnership |