Archives for May 2010

The Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center is best known for helping the victims of abuse, but one of the group’s facilitators says the Bridge is also reaching out with programs aimed at preventing abuse and recognizing the signs of abuse.

Jennie Waggoner, who works out of the Bridge’s main office in Amarillo, conducts interviews with victims and is now coordinating meetings in rural areas to raise awareness about abuse.

The Bridge provides services to more than 1,500 children annually in the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle. Eighty percent of the children are victims of sexual abuse. Sixty-seven percent of abuse victims are female, 96 percent of offenders are male, and 99 percent of offenders are known to the child.

“It’s more common than people think,” Waggoner said.

To help raise awareness and prevent abuse, the Bridge offers five programs that can be presented to parents, teachers, schools, churches, and civic organizations. The programs are presented free of charge and are about an hour long but can be shortened to fit whatever time is available. They cover a variety of topics including abuse indicators, how to respond, prevention strategies, how to talk to your child, common myths, and techniques used by offenders.

One program focuses on informing parents about protecting children in the information age, including making the Internet safer for kids, online predators, and Internet lingo.

The Bridge has offices in Amarillo, Pampa, and Hereford, and is funded solely through donations, the United Way, and grants. Bridge personnel conduct videotaped interviews with abuse victims between the ages of two and 17, and those interviews are admissible in court.

“It doesn’t keep the victim off the witness stand, but it does keep them from having to tell their story over and over,” Waggoner said.

The Bridge conducts sexual assault exams in a child friendly atmosphere for victims ranging in age from zero to 17 and also refers victims and families to counseling.

The Bridge accepts donations of money as well as disposable cameras, blank journals, Goldfish crackers, boxed juices, stuffed animals, and school supplies.

“Every child who comes to the Bridge gets a toy, juice, and some crackers to put them at ease,” Waggoner said.

For more information about the Bridge or to schedule a presentation, call Waggoner at 372-2873 or visit their website at www.bridgecac.org.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen discussed street maintenance issues during the regular city meeting on May 11.

Interim City Administrator Phyllis Jeffers said that Fu Benavidez with the Texas Department of Transportation had worked on pot hole patching with city employees on May 10. The city is doing the best it can with what they have to work with, Jeffers told the board.

Jeffers named Nathan Jaramillo to be the city’s street project coordinator and said she had instructed him to section off the city and repair streets one section at a time instead of taking a scattered approach.

Alderman Larry Hicks raised the possibility of using inmate labor to assist city workers with street repairs, and Jeffers said she would look into this.

The board also discussed a $20,000 seal coat project for this summer, and Jeffers recommended seal coating the streets that were paved in 2003 to help maintain them.

“Seal coating on some of our older streets would be a waste of time,” Jeffers said.
The project would seal nine or ten blocks, and the city engineer would select the blocks that would benefit the most from the work.

The board approved the seal coat project unanimously.

In other city business, aldermen approved a $360 per month contract with KEFH radio to promote the city using Motel Bed Tax Funds, agreed to sponsor the JRCA Rodeo held here May 15-16 with $2,500 from the Motel Bed Tax Fund, and also agreed to spend $500 from Motel Bed Tax Funds to sponsor a Summer Celebration event on the Courthouse Square as hosted by News Channel 10 from Amarillo.

The board approved a computer maintenance contract with Texas Panhandle CyberMedics for $230 per month and accepted a bid on tax delinquent property as presented by the appraisal district.

The board also canvassed the results of the May 8 election, and the oath of office was administered to Aldermen Will Thompson, Kyle Davis, and Jeremy Powell.

TEMPLE – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA Rural Development is accepting competitive applications from qualified public agencies and nonprofit organizations for grants to help low and very low income level residents in rural areas repair their homes.

“The costs associated with maintaining a home are a challenge for many rural homeowners and the funding we are announcing today will help low and very low income residents in rural areas maintain and repair their homes,” Vilsack said. “The Obama Administration and USDA are working to ensure that rural homeowners have safe, sanitary, energy-efficient places to live.”

Housing Preservation Grants are provided to intermediaries such as town or county governments, public agencies, federally organized Indian tribes and nonprofit or faith-based organizations. The grants are then distributed to qualified low and very low income homeowners. The grants can be used to weatherize and repair existing structures, install or improve plumbing or provide access to people with disabilities. To determine if your area is eligible for the Housing Preservation Grant, visit http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do

Locally, a recent USDA Rural Development Housing Preservation Grant was awarded to the Rolling Plains Management Corporation of Wichita Falls, TX. A $200,000 grant was awarded to rehabilitate 94 houses owned and occupied by very-low and low income individuals in Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cottle, Foard, Hardeman, Jack, Montague, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise and Young counties. A separate $25,000 grant is being used to improve the quality of housing and energy conservation for 11 low income Baylor County homeowners by repairing or replacing the roofs on their homes.

USDA Rural Development will accept applications for Housing Preservation Grants until June 28, 2010. All applications must be filed at the USDA Rural Development Texas State Office. To request an application packet, please contact Mr. Leon Carey at 254-742-9772.

Further information on rural programs is available at local USDA Rural Development offices or by visiting http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/tx/.