Project Healthy Grandparents Joins Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development at Georgia State University

Organization to honor its 30^th anniversary with fundraising gala Oct. 30

ATLANTA — Project Healthy Grandparents, a research-based program at Georgia State University that provides services to grandparents and the grandchildren they raise, has a new home within the Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development, a university-level research center focused on the implementation of evidence-based public health programs.

Project Healthy Grandparents was founded at Georgia State in 1995 and has served nearly 3,800 grandparents and grandchildren in Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties. Each year, it provides more than 500 registered nurse visits, 370 case management sessions and more than 540 referrals for critical needs, legal counsel and child care.

“Project Healthy Grandparents has changed the lives of thousands of families across metro Atlanta, and it is poised to expand its reach as a unit of the Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development,” said MCCHD Director Kathleen Baggett, an associate professor in the School of Public Health. “Our focus on translating research-based knowledge to real-world impact aligns perfectly with the continued growth of Project Healthy Grandparents.”

Project Healthy Grandparents is led by Patricia Lawrence, a research assistant professor in the School of Public Health and its Center for Leadership in Disability. The program was founded in 1995 by Susan Kelley, a researcher who has spent much of her career focused on multigenerational families and served as dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences (now the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions) at Georgia State.

The program is funded through support from individual donors and private foundations, as well as federal grants for the prevention of child abuse and neglect and to support services that help children remain safely at home. In honor of its 30^th anniversary and in recognition of the role that private support plays in advancing its mission, Project Healthy Grandparents will host its inaugural fundraising gala Oct. 30.

“Increasing levels of support from individual donors will play a critical role in the growth of Project Healthy Grandparents and its vision of becoming a nationally recognized center of excellence,” Lawrence said. “Decades of research has demonstrated that participants experience significant improvements in a host of measures, including physical and mental health. As we look toward to the future, we’re calling on donors to help extend the program’s reach to improve the lives of even more families here in Georgia and beyond.”

Lawrence is the author of more than 20 peer-reviewed research publications and has shared her findings at scores of national and international conferences. Her addition to the faculty of the Center for Leadership in Disability enables it to extend its work across the lifespan by exploring how the grandparents who participate in Project Healthy Grandparents navigate disabilities associated with aging and by developing new programs that address barriers to healthy aging among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Project Healthy Grandparents underscores the School of Public Health’s focus on applying the expertise of its faculty to urgent community needs,” said Dean Rodney Lyn. “We are excited to build upon its 30-year record of success by strengthening partnerships with individuals and organizations who share our commitment to helping children and their families thrive.”

— Story by Sam Fahmy