Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) student Autumn Musgrave Burgess, 24, of Canton, says she could easily have wandered down a bad path. She grew up in Forsyth County, the child of separated parents and a survivor of an “adverse childhood,” a term referring to various types of abuse and neglect.
Burgess
Burgess will join more than 500 students who will graduate at GGC’s commencement at 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 11 at Gas South Arena in Duluth.
Burgess was left to raise herself amid chaos, a fate any young adult would find daunting. To her, it was terrifying. She felt like she was living through an endless storm, with clouds so dark and thick that she couldn’t see a way out. Right when she needed it most, a light broke through.
Her adoptive grandmother saw what Burgess was going through and stepped in to pull her out of the storm. Burgess said when she came into her life, it was like a rainbow appeared. The older woman took Burgess under her wing and guided her toward a better path. Burgess calls her “Lollie.”
“If not for Lollie, I would not be standing here today,” says Burgess. “If I could be a ‘Lollie’ to just one kid and show them that their current circumstances do not define their future, then it would make everything I went through worthwhile.”
Burgess enrolled at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) after she graduated from North Forsyth High School in 2016. She knew she wanted to dedicate her life to helping troubled children, so at first, she sought a teaching degree.
“I realized that I wanted to use my childhood experiences for good and allow my growth through my past horrors to help children deal with theirs. It took me a while to discover that teaching was not how I was meant to do that.”
Once again, it was Lollie who showed her the way. Lollie had worked as a nurse in pediatric psychology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. One day it clicked: If Burgess wanted to make the kind of impact on others that Lollie had on her, nursing was the key. Burgess was accepted into GGC’s nursing program on April 2, 2020.
Burgess says of the GGC faculty: “These professors are amazing people inside and out. In my six years here at GGC, I have yet to have a single professor who does not care just as much as I do about my future than I do. They are the bread and butter of this place, and they have changed my life forever.”
After graduation, Burgess will move to California where her husband, a U.S. Marine, is stationed at Camp Pendleton, and will seek a job working with children.
Foundation grants $112,500 to Gwinnett nonprofit agencies
The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded $166,317 in grants during its April meeting, including $112,500 to agencies serving Gwinnett County. They include:
$20,000 to Extra Special People, in Watkinsville, to provide an opportunity for special needs or seriously ill children from low income or financially distressed families in local counties to attend an eight-week camp experience.- $20,000 to L.A.M.P. Ministries, Inc., in Gainesville, for its Community Youth and Children’s program, which combines group and individual counseling, community activities and mentoring to provide high risk youth in Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson and Lumpkin counties.
- $15,000 to Camp Twin Lakes, a not-for-profit organization that offers year-round recreational, therapeutic and educational programming for children facing serious illness and other challenges, to help children in Jackson EMC’s 10-county service area attend its state-of-the-art, fully-accessible camp.
- $15,000 to Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM– GA), in Suwanee, to provide anatomy equipment and supplies for its science and math summer academy for rising 10th and 11th grade students in Gwinnett County Public Schools.
- $15,000 to University of North Georgia Foundation, Inc., for its Steps to College Program, which provides summer high school courses for English learners throughout Jackson EMC’s service area to earn credit toward graduation.
- $10,000 to MUST Ministries, Inc., for its summer lunch program, which provides breakfast and lunch to needy children in Gwinnett County.
- $7,500 to Tiny Stitches, Inc., in Suwanee, to provide materials and supplies for their network of volunteers to handcraft a 28- to 32-piece layette of clothing and blankets to keep an infant warm and dry for the first three months of lifes.
- $5,000 to Bridge the Gap Ministries, Inc., for its rental assistance program serving low-income and homeless families in Gwinnett County.
- $5,000 to Foster Siblings Reunited (Camp to Belong), to enable children in the 10 counties Jackson EMC serves to attend summer camp and Virtual Sibling Connection events.
Duluth takes home 7 awards from Southeastern festival
The Southeastern Festivals and Events Association (SFEA) recognized the City of Duluth as one of the best in the region for its events and creative efforts over the last year.On April 26, at the virtual SFEA Kaleidoscope Award show, the City of Duluth was awarded prizes in the following areas:
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Initiative Award: Pride Pop-Up;
- Best Promotional Poster: Duluth Farmers Market;
- Best Festival or Event Video: GA Followers Fridays-n-Duluth Collab:
- Best Event Within an Event: Fridays-N-Duluth Presents Dog Days of Summer;
- Best Photo-Op: Fall Pop-Up at the Duluth Farmers Market;
- Best Social Media; and
- Best Children’s Programing: Back-to-School Bubblepalooza.
The awards were accepted by Events Coordinator Jessica Gross and Senior Marketing Coordinator Talore Ruedt.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Tax commissioner’s funeral will be held Thursday
Funeral services for Tiffany P. Porter, tax commissioner of Gwinnett County, will be Thursday, May 12, at Saint Philip AME Church, 240 Candler Road, Atlanta, Ga.
Porter
Ms. Porter died May 5 from cancer. Ms. Porter, of Lilburn, 43, was mother of four children, Tori, 15, Zoe, 17, Nia, 20, and Brandon, 23.
She had been tax commissioner for 16 months. She was the first African American tax commissioner in Gwinnett County. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in New Jersey. She was a graduate of Hampton University in music; had a law degree from Emory, and an MBA from Georgia State University.
For more than 20 years, Ms. Porter resided in Gwinnett County, attended Life Church International in Duluth and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
As the law dictates, Chief Deputy Denise Mitchell will execute the duties of the office until being sworn in to complete the remainder of Ms. Porter’s term through Dec. 31, 2024.
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