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Barrow County board approves lease for Branch resiliency center and OKs Dell computer purchase
Summary
On Oct. 14 the Barrow County Board of Education voted 7-1 to approve a property lease for the Branch Resiliency Center, a community recovery hub funded by a federal AEAP grant, and also awarded a contract for 250 Dell desktop computers totaling $129,750.
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — The Barrow County Board of Education voted 7-1 on Oct. 14 to approve a property lease arrangement for the Branch Resiliency Center, a community recovery hub created after the Sept. 4, 2024 incident at Apalachee High School. In the same meeting the board awarded a purchase contract for 250 Dell desktop computers at $519 each, a $129,750 procurement.
The Branch — short for the Barrow Response and Needs Center for Healing — will be run in partnership with the Ministry Village, a local nonprofit serving as the fiscal agent for the federal Anti-Terrorism Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) grant that is funding the center’s startup. Scott Dakin, chief executive officer of the Ministry Village, told the board the Branch is intended as a long-term, trauma‑informed resource providing counseling, case navigation, group supports and expressive therapies. “Barrow response and needs center for healing, which is where Branch comes from,” Dakin said. “This is not a year. This is not 2 years. This is years of work ahead of us.”
Why it matters: The Branch is intended to centralize long-term recovery services for students, staff and community members affected by the September incident at Apalachee. The…
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