$296,500 targeted for social service programs

Commissioners Court gives preliminary OK to funding eight efforts in coming year.

Agencies that help the elderly, children and battered women are on the verge of receiving continued financial support from the Williamson County Commissioners Court.

Commissioners took no formal action last week but gave tentative approval to $296,500 in funding for eight social service programs.

The leader for one of those groups — Hope Alliance CEO Patty Conner — spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, thanking commissioners for their support. She said Hope Alliance — headquartered in Round Rock and founded in 1984 as a rape crisis center — has for the past eight years received annual donations of $67,500 from the county.

“We use that for matching funds, over $600,000 of state and federal funding,” Conner said. She said county funding accounts for 3 percent of the agency’s $1.8 million annual budget.

In addition to its Round Rock office, Hope Alliance has satellite offices in Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor, Cedar Park and Liberty Hill.

Since the late 1980s, Hope Alliance has operated an emergency shelter for women and their children. The shelter’s location is kept confidential. Conner said Hope Alliance staff and volunteers are able to make a difference in the lives of the 3,600 women and children they serve each year.

In 2015, Conner said 89 percent of clients reported they are less likely to be victimized again due to help provided by Hope Alliance.

Yet more still needs to be done, Conner said. This includes expansion of the shelter, where she said an average of 50 families are turned away each month due to lack of space.

County budget officer Ashlie Koenig also recommended funding for seven other groups:

Williamson Burnet County Opportunities, rent assistance — $34,000

Williamson Burnet County Opportunities, senior nutrition (Meals on Wheels) — $30,000

Capital Area Rural Transportation System — $10,000

Court Appointed Special Advocates (for children) — $20,000

Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center — $50,000

Bluebonnet Trails Community MHMR Center — $63,0000

Bluebonnet Trails Community MHMR Juvenile Offender program — $22,000

Each group is tentatively scheduled to receive the same amount of funding this coming fiscal year than it did the previous one.

“We are thankful for what all these organizations do, and probably more effectively than we could do ourselves,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long.