Fulton County is one of six Georgia Counties that received NaCo Achievement Awards on Friday, July 18, 2010, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Washoe, Nevada.  Out of the six counties recognized by NaCo, Fulton claimed the most awards winning four out of eleven honors.

Fulton County received four awards with the Library receiving two achievement awards in the Volunteer Category and Best of Category.  The Neighborhood Union Health Center claimed the Award for Achievement in Health and the Global Youth Leadership Program won an award in the Youth Category.

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s win in the Volunteer Category is the result of a dynamic force of over 2,000 volunteers who donate over 63,000 hours annually.  Additionally, the Library Children’s Letter Writing campaign received an award because young library users received an opportunity to practice their writing skills by composing letters of support to children of deployed military personnel.  The program was developed as a means of connecting with President Obama’s “United We Serve” initiative, a national focus on volunteerism.

 The Neighborhood Union Health Center’s Achievement in Health Award recognizes the center’s efforts to reduce health disparities by addressing the social determinants of health through interdepartmental collaboration.  The NUHC is the pilot site for implementation of the “new model of care” in Fulton County.  The center is a multi-discipline “one stop shop”, which integrates primary care, behavioral health, public health and human services.

The Department of Human Services Global Youth Leadership Program claimed honors in the Youth Category.  Global Youth Leadership encourages Fulton Youth Leaders to think with a global perspective and allows them to travel to other counties to learn of the challenges and needs facing young people in other countries.  Students have traveled to a different country each year.  In 2008 the team traveled to South Africa, in 2009 they visited Germany and in 2010 they traveled to Turkey.

The NaCo Annual Awards program recognizes the creativity and imagination of counties.  NaCo presents a number of awards each year to county officials, their employees and the counties themselves for “innovative and progressive” programs and services.