News and Press
Center Point Names Mark Mobley as New Executive Director
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (April 11, 2019) — The Board of Directors for Center Point, an agency dedicated to promoting the success of students and families through teaching and personal development, announced the hiring of a former pastor and North Hall high school teacher with a strong background in nonprofits as the center’s new Executive Director – replacing its longtime leader David Smith, who recently retired.
Mark Mobley, who already has many ties to Gainesville nonprofits and the local area, will take over as Executive Director of Center Point on April 15, according to today’s board announcement.
“It is an incredible honor and great opportunity to work with such an accomplished team,” Mobley said. “Center Point’s services are critical to helping navigate the challenges that families and young people face in today’s culture. I am excited about working together with the board and staff to transform lives and build a better future.”
Mobley’s experience spans more than 20 years in professional roles that include service as a senior pastor, high school teacher, consultant and a nonprofit executive.
“He has significant expertise in community collaboration and partnerships, leading strategic planning efforts, and navigating organizational growth and change,” said Kathie Futrell, Center Point’s board president and a member of its executive search committee.
Mobley’s work with youth and families in the Gainesville and Northeast Georgia area includes his role as Director of Strategy & Programs for Supporting Adoption & Foster Families Together (SAFFT), Executive Director at the Georgia CALLS assistance program for former inmates, Senior Pastor at the Living Word Worship Center in Jefferson and math teacher at North Hall High School. He also has served on the City of Jefferson City Council since 2012.
“David and the team have created an effective organization that enables students and families to succeed,” Mobley said. “I will be building on that momentum to help Center Point serve more people. We have an ambitious agenda and an excellent staff that can turn those goals into reality. I am especially delighted to be based in the Gainesville/Hall County area again. It feels like coming home.”
Mobley and his wife, Robbin, along with their children, Mackenzie and Evan, live in Jefferson.
Center Point was founded in 1967 by four Gainesville-area churches with the mission to supplement and broaden religious studies for local youth. Today, the agency offers counseling for children and families, religious education through its release-time classes for Gainesville High School, mentoring, substance abuse prevention, and teen pregnancy intervention services. Through the years, the agency’s mission and staff have evolved with a team that now includes educators, licensed clinical psychologists, therapists, and social workers. Center Point has offices in Gainesville and South Hall. For more information, visit the Center Point website at CenterPointGa.org.
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Help us meet $200,000 challenge grant for Center Point Expansion Campaign
Center Point needs your help to successfully wrap up the ongoing fundraising campaign for our facility improvement and expansion program.
We are so close (yet so far!) to raising the remaining money to meet our $1.1 million goal thanks to an anonymous donor who is pledging $200,000 in return for another $200,000 in matching funds toward our expansion campaign. If successful, the total donation amount of $400,000 would bring our campaign to a successful close.
Fundraising for our ongoing expansion campaign was launched nearly two years ago to help us open a new 5,600 square-foot location on Atlanta Highway in Oakwood in addition to improving our longtime location across from the Gainesville High School campus. Donations will go directly toward enhancing our services to area high school youth and their families while creating a safer environment at both of our sites.
We are currently operating in about one-third of the new South Hall facility, where our counselors and interns share office space. The remainder of our Center Point South building remains to be built out to provide additional space for counseling, education, training and community meetings. Upon completion of the expansion campaign, Center Point projects reaching and serving another 3,000 youth for an annual total of more than 10,000 students throughout Hall County.
To donate and help us meet the challenge grant, please mail us a check to 1050 Elephant Trail, Gainesville, GA 30501. Or simply visit our website at Centerpointga.org to contribute online.
Center Point Remembers Longtime Advocate Becky Gurr
Center Point supporter Becky Gurr recently passed away.
A career educator, Becky taught students throughout Southwest Georgia before coming to Gainesville High in 1986 as assistant principal. She held that role until her retirement in 2000.
Becky was a strong supporter of Center Point, serving on the Board of Trustees for 19 years. In 2014, Center Point established the Rebecca Gurr Fund in recognition of her dedication to its religious education program.
The family requests memorial donations be made to Center Point in her memory.
Giving Back to Gwinnett: Marie Davis and Center Point
Gwinnett Cares
As Featured in The Times
Center Point was featured in the August 17th edition of the The Times. Under discussion was the agency’s current expansion into South Hall County. You can read it here.
Our Feature on WDUN
The CP South Expansion
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