ATHENS — The Henderson County Help Center is a nonprofit social service agency covering a broad spectrum of programs providing services and assistance to families countywide.

 They include the United Way Help Line, which is an information and referral service that helps people locate resources to meet their needs; a child advocacy center for abused or neglected children and the PEP program for pregnant or parenting teens, an acronym for pregnancy, education and parenting.

 The help center is in a one-story structure at 309 Royall in Athens rented for a $1 for 99 years from First Baptist Church of Athens. But it had its start in about 1987 on the third floor of the courthouse providing emergency financial assistance for the county.

 “A group of women and churches got together and saw there was a need in the county for financial assistance with utility bills, water bills, prescriptions and medications,” said Leslie Saunders, executive director.

 “They noticed that people needing these services would go from church to church to church, but nobody was tracking them so they were duplicating some of the services.”

 The churches and community members wanted to figure out how to have a one-stop shop of financial assistance and reference and referral in Henderson County as a community service, Ms. Saunders said.

 The first executive director, Sandra Eddings, pioneered and started that part of the program with United Way funding and it was called the United Way Help Line.

 The Help Line moved in about 1990 to the refurbished building on Royal Street, when the new Henderson County Help Center became the umbrella organization for it and several other programs were added.

 The Help Line is still funded by the United Way and collaborates with other agencies to match needs of families and individuals with those agencies that can render aid and provide financial assistance. It receives an estimated 5,000 calls a year.

 “The United Way Help Line is our core program and all of our other programs feed off of that for assistance and reference and referral and supporting the community as well,” Ms. Saunders said.

 “The United Way still funds that heavily for us; we are proud to have that partnership with them. All of the funding it provides goes back out in direct assistance. No payroll or administrative salaries comes out of the United Way funding.”

 The Help Line may refer needy persons who live in the county but outside of Athens to agencies in their town, such as Cedar Creek, Chandler or Seven Points.

 If they cannot find assistance there, they can come to the Athens office because the Help Center serves the whole county, Ms. Saunders said.

 The United Way Help Line incorporates financial assistance from the ministerial alliance and Salvation Army.

 The Help Center’s other programs are state and federally funded and it receives donations to pay for things that the state and federal grants do not.

 In 1992, a PEP program was started for pregnant or parenting girls from five school districts with a grant from the Texas Education Agency.

 They came for their school classes that were taught at the center, which also furnished a full-service day care for their children.

 The day care is now outsourced and the PEP staff sees not only teen mothers or pregnant girls but also teen fathers in the school setting. Since they are staying on their home campus, they are able to participate in extracurricular activities that they could not be in before.

 “We found we could help more kids – more moms and dads – versus them coming here and just (serving) the moms,” Ms. Saunders said. The program has been expanded to 11 school districts: Athens, Eustace, Malakoff, Mabank, Kemp, Poynor, Brownsboro, Martins Mill, Van, Cayuga and Cross Roads.

 The PEP staff makes sure the pregnant or parenting teens are getting government services such as Medicaid if they don’t have insurance or private pay and aid through the Texas Department of Health’s Women Infants and Children program, such as monthly checkups, milk, cereal, fruit and formula.

 “We make sure if the dad is not involved that they have applied through the attorney general’s office for child support,” Ms. Saunders said. “We also make sure they are getting educational needs (met).”

 The PEP program gives prenatal information and post partum support and teaches life skills.

 It helps them concentrate on graduating from high school, prepare to attend college or a vocational program and work toward other life goals, Ms. Saunders said.

 The PEP program serves approximately 100 pregnant and parenting teens countywide and about 70 children.

 The Help Center also operates the Student Assistance Program, providing mental health counselors who go to schools in Athens and Mabank to furnish mental health counseling to approximately 200 students a year.

 “That was a great need in our community so we provided that service,” Ms. Saunders said, saying the center has a “wrap-around, holistic approach” toward providing support.

 In addition, the Help Center has a human trafficking program federally funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

 The center provides information on human trafficking and can provide services to anyone that might be trafficked or sexually exploited, helping them get to a safe house.

 This is the first year center has also conducted a sexual abstinence program in 11 school districts for more than 3,500 students. Using a curriculum called Heritage Keepers, it deals with sexual abstinence, bullying, peer pressure, risky behaviors, health behaviors and goals of teens.

 Another major thrust of the help center is the Henderson County Children’s Advocacy Center, started in 1999 to serve abused or neglected children.

 Children can tell their story to a specially trained forensic interviewer, which is videotaped. The children are provided mental health counseling. A sexual assault nurse examination may also be conducted free if the sexual assault or physical abuse occurred more than 96 hours out.

 Individual counseling and peer group counseling for the non-offending caregiver are provided as well.

Once a child has finished the forensic interview and paperwork, the child can pick from a large selection of stuffed animals, toys and other items to take home. Women in the community also quilt small lap blankets for them to hold during the exam and make them feel comfortable, Ms. Saunders said.

 

The program director and lead forensic interviewer testify in court and work closely with offices of the district attorney and county attorney.

 

 

Cases are reviewed and information gathered during monthly meetings of the multidisciplinary team of law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, medical, juvenile probation, court appointed special advocates and child protective services personnel.

 

On other fronts, the help center screens applicants for the Toys for Tots program conducted by Athens Fire Department, coordinates bell ringing for the Salvation Army

 

“We usually have about 90 cases on our case roll at any one time,” Ms. Saunders said. “New cases come on and old cases go off because they have been prosecuted or we have finished services they need.”

 

On other fronts, the help center screens applicants for the Toys for Tots program conducted by Athens Fire Department, coordinates bell ringing for the Salvation Army and screens children eligible to receive back packs and school supplies during the Athens ISD back-to-school bash.