CIS of Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County, Inc. began serving students in the fall of 1992 through a Success Seminar curriculum that was added in the 5th-8th grades with teachers facilitating from within the school faculty. The program was a joint effort of the local CIS Board of Directors, the Ben Hill County Board of Education, the Ben Hill County Department of Family and Children Services, the City of Fitzgerald, the Ben Hill County Commission, and local business and industry leaders. The collaborative nature of that program continues to exist today with CIS of Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County providing indirect services to nearly 3,200 students, and direct services to 200 plus students in grades K-12 through school and community-based programs. CISFBHC continues to successfully engage the community’s private and public sector leadership in the coordinated delivery of existing health, social, and educational services for the benefit of area youth and their families.
For the past thirty years, CIS of Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County has sought to establish an array of school and community-based prevention/intervention programs aimed at surrounding students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Capitalizing on a number of local, state, and national initiatives, our organization now sponsors programs and services for children and their families in all of the Ben Hill County Schools. While each initiative has been the direct result of extensive planning and collaboration between community agencies, the thread that is woven throughout all of the programs is the contribution that the community makes to the overall success of those we serve and our organization.