Cobb Faith Partnership, Inc.

1. Cobb Faith Partnership, Inc. Unity in showing God’s Love to our Community

2. Our Mission To positively impact the lives of Cobb County citizens through the collaboration of area religious institutions, faith-based organizations, and the social service community.

3. Our Vision Through a unified collaboration of faith-based organizations and partners, develop an avenue where we share resources, information, and ideas to improve the quality of life for the community.

4. Our Purpose To primarily bring together and to develop deep and lasting relationships among religious institutions and other faith-based ministries and related organizations in Cobb County, Georgia in order to: • Informally share information on community-based services provided by each church or ministry • Avoid duplication and encourage sharing & coordination of resources as much as practical, and • Foster an environment of joint referrals and shared client management among participants

5. Core Values • To be guided by the highest moral principles and ethical standards in all we do on behalf of CFP • To respect and appreciate each other's talents and spiritual gifts brought to the table by ALL participants • To respect and appreciate each other in the spirit of unity and purpose  • To agree to abide by our Code of Conduct • To entrust Cobb Faith Partnership matters only to those who are committed to our Vision, Mission, Core Values and Code of Conduct

6. Goals Cobb Faith Partnership will accomplish its mission and vision by: • Coordinating existing services among area religious institutions, faith-based organizations, and the social service community in Cobb County • Creating opportunities to identify existing service gaps in Cobb County • Creating opportunities to enable area religious institutions, faith-based organizations, and the social service community to fill those gaps

7. Brief History • Incorporated in January 2002 as SW Cobb Faith Collaborative (SWCFC) - its vision: to create a seamless service delivery system among the faith community and social service agencies in these SW Cobb County cities: • Austell • Mableton • Powder Springs • Clarkdale • Smyrna/Vinings

8. Brief History (cont’d) Merged with Cobb Assistance Partnership (CAP), a similar organization based in Marietta, Georgia and incorporated in 1999: • CAP’s Mission, Vision, and Purpose was similar to SWCFC except it’s reach was to include all of Cobb County’s faith community and social service agencies • In practice, CAP’s reach centered mostly around the churches and social service agencies in and around Downtown Marietta, Georgia

9. Noted Accomplishments Organized a multi-organizational task force responsible for the successful Faith Based Forum & Summit in May 2003. Topics included: • Finding faith-based and other funding • Providing tools to help case managers and church leaders • Providing networking opportunities among participating churches, ministries, and the social service community

10. Accomplishments (Cont’d) • Created and implemented a ongoing comprehensive survey to gauge needs among churches in the Cobb area • Created a Cobb Churches & Ministries Database by City which contains over 500 listings and is updated on an ongoing basis

11. Accomplishments (Cont’d) Hosted the first ever Cobb Churches & Ministries Resource Fair in conjunction with Spikes Pizzeria in May 2004 • Represented 13 Churches, Ministries, & Organizations providing outreach • Increased awareness of the need for churches & ministries to work together in providing outreach • Spikes donated 10% of their entire day’s proceeds to CFP, which they have agreed to do on an ongoing basis throughout the year

12. Accomplishments (Cont’d) Established Geographical Zones to facilitate collaborative efforts based on specific needs of each area of the county: • Marietta Central (primarily 30060 Area) • SouthWest Cobb (Austell, Mableton, Powder Springs • NorthWest Cobb (Acworth, Kennesaw) • NorthEast Cobb (primarily 30068 & 30066 Areas) • SouthEast Cobb (primarily Smyrna/Vinings Areas)

13. Accomplishments (Cont’d) Our "Small Ministries Making a Big Difference" forum held August 12th, 2004 at Kennesaw State University was a overwhelming success: • Featured over 100 attendees, 26 displays from churches and ministries • Also included opportunities to hear and interact with speakers from several ministries to discover ways of collaborating and partnering with them.

14. What to Look Forward To Coming off our successful “Smaller Ministries” forum, CFP hopes to expand opportunities for sharing resources, information, and ideas among Cobb churches, FBOs and the social service community by: • Increasing the amount of networking time during our General Meetings • Spotlighting particular ministry areas including Health Clinics, Homeless Issues, Training & Development, Youth Services, and Volunteer Opportunities.

15. What to Look Forward To (Cont’d) • CFP will continue to assist the Cobb Community Collaborative with their County-wide survey of the social service community which will include area churches and ministries’ responses gathered from 2002-present. • Plans are in the works to create a pocket-sized information and services directory for CFP Members listing the types of outreach provided by the various member churches and ministries of CFP.

16. Our Current Needs • Publicity to get the word out about our group to solicit new members • Monetary donations (to go towards hiring a FT Staff Person and other day-to-day budgetary expenses) • In-Kind Resources (office space, equipment and supplies) • Your ongoing prayers

17. For More Information • Phone Number: 404-992-5457 • Email: cobbfaithpartnership@yahoo.com • Address: 569 Frasier Street, Marietta, GA 30060 • Visit us on the web: www.cobbfaithpartnership.org • Receive email updates from our Yahoo! Groups Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cobbfaithpartnership