Naylor to retire after 14 years in role
Gilmer County’s Family Connection office will see a transition in leadership later this year.
After 14 years in the director’s role, the office’s longtime director, Merle Howell Naylor, will retire at the end of July.
At a February Family Connection collaborative meeting, Howell introduced her successor, Tiffany Watson, who will start as director this August.
‘You have to have a heart for the work’
Georgia Family Connection was first established by Gov. Zell Miller in 1991 as fledgling pilot initiative. It originated after the 1990 national KIDS COUNT — a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that tracks the well-being of children in the United States — ranked Georgia 48th out of all 50 states in quality of life for children and families.
The organization has since grown into a state-community partnership that includes collaborative efforts in all Georgia counties. The Family Connection collaborative network brings together agencies, organizations and volunteers in those counties to devise ways and projects that further the organization’s overall mission of improving well-being for children and families.
Gilmer Family Connection was established in 1999. Naylor remembered there were two other local directors of the still-young program before she took the job in 2006.
“Before me was Karen Berry and Judy Chilford was the original director,” she said. “I had been chairman of the board for Family Connection before I was director, so I already knew about the organization. They offered me the job and I accepted because I’ve always loved helping people. That drew me in because I knew it was a job where I could help people and make a difference in the community.”
Along with overseeing the local-level collaborative group efforts, Gilmer Family Connection is often contacted by local residents who need help with a variety of situations.
“You have to have a heart for the work. It’s not just a 9-5 job. There’s a lot of different types of personalities you have to deal with and you have to have the right temperament. You need to try to help them and treat everyone with respect, no matter what their situation is,” Naylor said.
It could be someone who has a family member with a drug or alcohol problem. Someone may need assistance paying their utility bills or they may be homeless, she added.
“On my annual plan, I put that we are a 411 center, which is the truth,” Naylor said.
“We don’t have a direct benevolence program like we used to, but people do call weekly, if not daily, asking for help and I’m there to give them resources. We have a two-page benevolence list that shows local the agencies, what type of services they provide, their hours of operation and telephone numbers.”
One of the biggest unfulfilled needs in the county that falls under Family Connection’s mission umbrella is some type of homeless shelter, she noted.
“I am on the board of New Beginnings, which is (a transitional temporary housing program), but not a homeless shelter. There’s not really a resource like that in this area. If someone is a veteran, I point them toward Action Ministries, which does have a veterans program that might could help them with rent,” Naylor said.
Making a difference
Watson, a Gilmer High School grad and a cum laude graduate of Reinhardt College, is looking forward to doing work that’s focused on helping the local community.
“I’ve always had a passion for helping other people, (but that increased) when my son became ill with an autoimmune and skin illness. I had to research different types of treatments and learn a lot more about it. From that, I was able to become an advocate for something. Going into that mindset of activism made me want to do more things here in Ellijay that would make a difference,” she said. “Especially within the past year, I’ve been able to really see the need for someone who’s passionate about our community and our children, as well as local issues. It was really placed on my heart to do something at a local level and I feel like everything I’ve done at the different junctures of my life has prepared me for this position.”
Watson arrives already well-versed in community leadership roles. She’s currently an ambassador for the Gilmer Chamber, as well as a member of the chamber’s Leadership Gilmer team.
Personal experiences with her son’s health have led her to advocate at the state level for awareness of the autoimmune conditions known as PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and, PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infection).
“Before, they thought it might be a psychiatric issue. In the last few years, through mothers coming together, we now know it’s a medical condition that causes the brain to swell,” Watson explained.
“I’ve been able to go to the state Capitol and work on a study committee to push forward that this is a real medical condition. A lot of times you’re not able to list it for insurance and people are stuck paying for it out of pocket. If you don’t have the money to do that, your child suffers.”
She plans to continue several Family Connection programs that Naylor established including Teen Maze and Reality Day, both educational life scenario events for Gilmer High students, as well as the annual Christmas Campaign, which helps families in need with Christmas gifts for children.
“Merle has some great programs that she’s spent almost 15 years forming. During the transition period, I want to follow what she’s already laid out. As always, I know I can learn a lot from her,” Watson said. “She’s made it clear, as I see what the needs are and get a pulse on the community, to find out what we are needing and go from there.”
Naylor is glad that someone with the heart and the right personality for the job will be stepping in to leading the local Family Connection office.
“I know Tiffany’s heart and her work ethic. I feel like she will do an excellent job, mainly because she has a heart for families and children. You really must have that,” she noted.