Dougherty County say they’re stepping in with a solution. It’s called the Albany Summer Collective — a coordinated effort led by the United Way of Southwest Georgia and Grow Southwest Georgia to connect families with available summer programs and expand capacity so more children can be served. Organizers say the goal is simple: fill the gap left behind and make sure children still have access to safe, structured summer activities. United Way President and CEO Orson Burton Jr. said organizers reached out to existing summer programs across Albany and Dougherty County, identifying about 16 organizations to participate. Those organizations already have staffing, facilities, and an existing track record of serving kids, Burton said. The plan is for the collective to help those programs grow. “So essentially what we did was we went to all of the summer programs in the city of Albany and Dougherty County. We identified those summer program partners. We came up with about 16 of them,” Burton said. Burton said the collective’s approach is to support partners through mini-grants so they can increase enrollment. “This will be an opportunity for us to actually help them expand their program,”

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