Mission Granbury: providing help, safety, self sufficiency and well-being  
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Mission Granbury News and Information:

April, 2010____________________________________________

New Report Shows Child Maltreatment Decreased in 2008
Prevention efforts to be intensified

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced today that 2008 saw the lowest child victimization rate in five years. In addition, the number of children who suffered maltreatment decreased for the second year in a row. These findings are contained in “Child Maltreatment 2008,” an annual report issued every April marking the start of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To read the full article click here. To view the full report, visit here.

 

 

March, 2010___________________________________________

Mission Granbury ED to Take Medical Leave; Board Names Margie Messina Acting Executive Director

(Granbury, TX) – Barry Van Duzee, president of the Mission Granbury board of directors, has announced that Margie Messina, current outreach and education director, will take on the acting executive director role effective immediately, filling in for executive director Ginger Eways, who is taking a medical leave.

“I’ve needed to attend to some health issues and scheduled procedures for several months, and with the Mission Fair and fiscal year 2009 now behind us, this will be a good time to do so,” said Ms. Eways in a prepared statement. 

The board of directors voted unanimously to accept the restructuring recommendations at the Thursday, March 4, 2010 bi-monthly meeting, held at Mission Granbury.

“We are confident that Margie will do a wonderful job in this role,” Dr. Van Duzee said. “And, we are eagerly anticipating Ginger’s return when her doctors give her the OK to resume full duties.”

Ms. Messina will oversee all fiscal, administrative, and program operations and represent the organization in the community. She’ll also direct programs and public education until Ms. Eways returns to work.

Mission Granbury is a community-based, 501(c) (3) non-profit organization established in 1998 to care for those affected by the tragedies of domestic violence, abuse, and poverty. With four core programs focused on moving every individual towards healing and self-sufficiency, Mission Granbury adheres to the principle of treating each individual and family with dignity and respect while providing each with a course of action that truly fosters a better, healthier, and safer life.  Through specific, concrete, and practical assistance, Mission Granbury's unduplicated programs and services are essential to the well-being of the entire Granbury community.  

 

 

February, 2010_________________________________________

Mission Granbury Position Statement as Sent to the Hood County News Regarding the Article, February 24, 2010

Background Information

For our readers’ background information, there are several things that we would like you to consider in light of the Hood County News article from February 24, 2010.

  1. Mission Granbury has a strict confidentiality policy. The policy is not arbitrarily strict, but is designed to be in compliance with law, applicable regulations, and grant requirements. The overall objective is to protect the privacy of the individuals that seek our help and the confidentiality of their records.  Consistent with our policy, Mission Granbury can neither confirm nor deny that the subject of the weekend incident involved a resident at the Ada Carey Center for Women and Children.

  1. Mission Granbury has security procedures for the Ada Carey Center for Women and Children that are detailed in our "Cooperative Living Handbook." Based on detailed discussions with our program manager, there were no unusual events that occurred at our shelter over the weekend and no violations of our security policy. 

  1. Residents at Mission Granbury's Ada Carey Center for Women and Children are free to come and go as they please. They are responsible for their own behavior. We do have a curfew that residents are expected to adhere to, but residents who return to the shelter after curfew are not denied entrance.  Instead, we discuss with them the requirement that they adhere to the rules and regulations in our Cooperative Living Handbook and we enter a note, signed by the resident, into their record.  If repeated curfew violations occur, the resident is asked to leave the shelter. 

  1. Mission Granbury is committed to being a good neighbor. We apologize for any inconvenience that may occur because of our operations, but please know that our foremost desire is to help those in need. Please feel free to address concerns with us at any time. Our main number is answered at our Weatherford Highway office during regular client service hours on weekdays, and has a recorded message that gives the phone number of our 24/7 Hotline for use during off hours.  Our Hotline rolls over to a phone in our shelter, so we are available at all times to respond to needs and issues that our residents or neighbors may have.   

Position Statement

Caring program directors, case managers, staff, and volunteers at the Ada
Carey Center for Women & Children help hundreds of victims of family
violence. The Shelter has carefully written rules and policies that govern
residents' participation, privacy, security, interaction, and residential activities
and that carefully define the roles and guidelines for our compassionate
professional staff.

Although we feel great sympathy for individuals in distress, we are very
aware that this population is particularly challenged by their circumstances,
stressed by their situations, and often compromised in their ability to function
optimally. While we respect the Hood County News reportorial function and
this reporter's interest in covering issues in Granbury, we must first and
foremost abide by our policies that were designed to respect and support all
residents of the shelter and the professional roles of our staff and volunteers.
Please note that there are thorough, thoughtful residents' grievance and
cooperative living agreement processes whereby our center residents can
coexist peacefully. We do not share their reports or findings, though the
policies are available to review. We also have a confidentiality and privacy
policy which allows the women and children at our center to be shielded from
external scrutiny and protects them from any who might want to do them
harm. We maintain strict adherence to these policies. We do not comment on
individual resident's circumstances nor do we discuss any personnel or
personnel issues publicly.

To repeat, we are saddened by the circumstances that drive women to our
shelter. We understand that all are struggling. We hope and work so that all
may find the peace they seek and that is the right of every individual.

We stand by our dedicated, concerned staff and their efforts to help the
individuals at the Ada Carey Center for Women & Children.

About Mission Granbury

In 2009 alone, Mission Granbury services made a positive difference in the
lives of 11,718 Hood County residents.

  • 221 women and children who are victims of family violence received
    comprehensive residential shelter services at the Ada Carey Center for
    Women & Children.
  • 395 victims of family violence and sexual assault received nonresidential
    victims' assistance services such as therapeutic counseling,
    case management, legal advocacy, court accompaniment, and help in
    obtaining community services.
  • 48 abused and neglected children who had been removed from their
    homes had a voice in court thanks to the CASA (Court Appointed
    Special Advocates) volunteers.
  • 180 low-income individuals received help in obtaining pro-bono legal
    assistance.
  • 5,595 people received crisis intervention and information & referral on
    our 24/7 Crisis Hotline.
  • 5,799 needy individuals in crisis--- men, women, and children---
    received help with basic needs (such as utility assistance, food,
    prescriptions, and homelessness prevention services) through our
    Emergency Assistance Program.

Mission Granbury programs include the Ada Carey Center for Women &
Children, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Emergency
Assistance Network, and the Victim's Assistance Program. These four core
service areas work to promote better, healthier, and safer lives by providing the
community with vital assistance in combating the real issues of domestic
violence, abuse, and poverty.

While we never like to see issues arise, we are here to help, and isn't it great
that our community has a shelter that does so much to help so many battered
women and their children? We are very grateful to our community for all they
do to make this possible.

Thank you for your interest in Mission Granbury.

 

Mission Granbury Position Statement Regarding Hood County News Article, February 20, 2010

Introductory Note

Mission Granbury is extremely disappointed in the report that begins on page one of the Saturday, February 20, 2010 issue of Hood County News.

At Mission Granbury, we adhere to the highest standards of excellence and integrity throughout our organization and in all our programs and services. While we trust that others strive for similar high standards in their professional endeavors, that is not always the case. Following are several resources that outline the importance of ethical standards for journalists.

http://www.apme.com/ethics/
http://www.spj.org/pdf/ethicscode.pdf
http://www.rjionline.org/mas/code-of-ethics/journalism-ethics-rules-1996
http://www.nytco.com/press/ethics.html#keeping

A further statement from Mission Granbury leadership will be forthcoming.

Situation Overview as sent to the Hood County News

Mission Granbury receives money from several governmental granting agencies in support of our work for the needy in Granbury and surrounding areas. As part of their normal grant administration procedures, granting agencies are required to routinely monitor organizations' expenditures to assure compliance with rules and regulations associated with the grants. Commonly, as a result of a monitoring visit, organizations will be asked to reallocate some expenses to be in compliance with grant requirements. 

This was the case with Mission Granbury's ESGP grant for 2007. In 2008, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the granting agency) conducted a routine monitoring review of our 2007 grant spending. They requested that we reallocate some of our expenses to assure our spending was in compliance with grant requirements.

This reallocation was necessitated because of a car payment made by Mission Granbury as emergency assistance for one of our clients living at the Ada Carey Center for Women & Children who was working on a goal-based, individual service plan. Her ability to have reliable transportation to work was a critical aspect of her movement toward safety and stability. The original allocation of funds for this need was inadvertently booked to a grant whose guidelines prohibited support for this type of need. The TDHCA monitoring review found this instance and requested reallocation.

Mission Granbury made the requested bookkeeping change and submitted a revised report to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The Department reviewed the revised report and stated the earlier findings were now closed.

Mission Granbury has received subsequent grant funding from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Mission Granbury’s Standards of Excellence and Extensive Reach

At Mission Granbury, we are blessed to be able to help struggling individuals and families in crisis in many different ways. Our compassionate, dedicated staff members have formal, written guidelines by which to make informed decisions to help our clients. Our goal is to provide resources to those in our community who are suffering. We are in the business of helping them and offering hope.

We are able to do this through community generosity, donations, and grants. While grants have allocation restrictions, in our hearts we know we must simply help our clients, whether the help comes from the left pocket or the right. As in the 2007 ESPG example, we inadvertently applied monetary support in our system and attributed it to a specific grant. As that grant did not allow for those types of payments, we reallocated the grant money from another funding source. (We can use unrestricted funds, if necessary, as long as we feel the need is real and that our own guidelines are followed.) Should human error in bookkeeping occur, we quickly correct the mistake, as we did when the monitoring report discovered the booking error. Guidelines are important. The need is real.

Caring case managers and program directors at Mission Granbury work diligently to meet those needs and also to assure grant program rules are followed as we move people towards healing and self-sufficiency. Should a situation or two be misreported, we make every effort to assure it doesn’t happen again.

In 2009 alone, Mission Granbury services made a positive difference in the lives of 11,718 Hood County residents.

  • 221 women and children who are victims of family violence received comprehensive residential shelter services at the Ada Carey Center for Women & Children.
  • 395 victims of family violence and sexual assault received non-residential victims’ assistance services such as therapeutic counseling, case management, legal advocacy, court accompaniment, and help in obtaining community services.
  • 48 abused and neglected children who had been removed from their homes had a voice in court thanks to the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) volunteers.
  • 180 low-income individuals received help in obtaining pro-bono legal assistance.
  • 5,595 people received crisis intervention and information & referral on our 24/7 Crisis Hotline.
  • 5,799 needy individuals in crisis—men, women, and children—received help with basic needs (such as utility assistance, food, prescriptions, and homelessness prevention services) through our Emergency Assistance Program.

Mission Granbury programs include the Ada Carey Center for Women & Children, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Emergency Assistance Network, and the Victim’s Assistance Program. These four core service areas work to promote better, healthier, and safer lives by providing the community with vital assistance in combating the real issues of domestic violence, abuse, and poverty.

As you can imagine, the task of accurately documenting our expense allocation decisions for so many clients can be daunting. While we never like to see documentation mistakes and expense allocation errors or allocation problems, isn’t it great that our community has a shelter that does so much to help battered women and their children?

We thank our community for all they do to make this possible.

 

Mission Granbury's 2010 Mission Fair

To heighten public awareness, provide effective collaboration in our community, and educate the public about the social service agencies, churches, charities and organizations that work to build a safer and stronger community.

Please join us with Mayor David Southern, Honorary Chair

When: Saturday, February 27, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: Granbury Resort Conference Center
621 East Pearl Street, Granbury, TX 76048

Please call Margie Messina at 817-579-6866 or email her at mmessina@missiongranbury.org if you have any questions.

Participating organizations need to arrive on Saturday, February 27 at 8:30 a.m.

 

Leaving an Ongoing Legacy through The Mission Granbury Foundation

The Mission Granbury Foundation is a new 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established for the enduring financial support of the charitable activities of Mission Granbury, Inc.  The goal of the foundation is to accomplish its mission through direct and deferred donations, including securities, cash and property, by giving individuals and businesses the opportunity to leave an ongoing legacy through these gifts.

Terry Frick is the president of the Mission Granbury Foundation board of directors.  Under Terry’s leadership the foundation board will be effectively sustaining the commitment of Mission Granbury, Inc. to provide help, safety, self-sufficiency and well-being to families in crisis.  The Mission Granbury Foundation is an entity separate from Mission Granbury, Inc., and will operate under a unique leadership team.

For more information, please call Ginger Eways at 817-579-6866 or email her at geways@missiongranbury.org.