Thursday, April 25, 2024
In an effort to provide additional services to meet the needs of students and their families, the Gatesville Independent School District Board of Trustees has approved a memorandum of understanding to partner with Hidden Gem.
The nonprofit family center offers a variety of services and was initially designed to get support in whatever areas needed for victims of crime.
Jenny Featherston, the executive director of Hidden Gem and also the victim's service coordinator for the local district attorney's office, gave an overview of the agency.
"Part of my job is to find resources for victims, and I noticed our county didn't have a lot of that," she said. "I had to send people out of the county – to Temple or Waco – and that bothered me. We should never have to send people outside the county for help.
"I felt like God was impressing on my heart that I needed to do something to help people in our community. Righteous Roots (another nonprofit with a similar mission of helping people) does a lot to help people, but one agency isn't going to be able to cover it all. We need a partnership to serve our community."
For those who have gotten off track in their education, finances or other areas of life, Hidden Gem offers classes to help people recover, get the skills and knowledge they need and to stay accountable in making improvements, Featherston said.
"Once people come to Hidden Gem, we no longer consider them victims, they are clients," she said.
"We want to step in and help offer resources to the community that it hasn't had," Featherston said. "We are a faith-based organization so grant opportunities don't always line up, and we are always looking for donors. The Bible talks about taking care of your own and that's what we are trying to do."
Pam Williams, executive director of community relations for GISD, said Hidden Gem offers services that can benefit students and their families.
"We have students who can benefit from their classes and by getting them connected," she said. "It's essentially a hand off for us."
"I want to help build our local resources and want to provide for students and families, whatever their needs may be," Featherston said. "We've had some people come in off the street, sometimes barefoot, and we help them wherever we can. We feel that God is at the center of it. We are trying to partner with everybody to build our resources."
