West Texas Centers awarded ‘Heroes Amongst Us' honor

BIG SPRING West Texas Centers for MHMR Chief Executive Officer Shelley Smith was presented with the "Heroes Amongst Us" Award by the Texas Council of Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Centers during a November ceremony in Austin.

The Texas Council of MHMR Centers provides the 39 community MHMR Centers a single voice at the statewide level.

The award was presented to West Texas Centers and several other MHMR Centers for their work responding to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints situation earlier this year outside of San Angelo.

Texas child welfare employees removed nearly 500 children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch prompting a need for temporary housing and counseling services.

The Centers spent a great number of hours assisting the children, said Lee Johnson, Texas Council Membership Support Director.

West Texas Centers, who serves more than 2,000 people a month in 23 counties in rural West Texas was well-equipped to handle the emergency that unfolded outside of San Angelo and any other situation requiring highly skilled and motivated mental health professionals, Smith said.

Also receiving the Heroes Amongst Us Award were the MHMR centers on the Gulf Coast who assisted with Hurricanes Dolly, Gustav and Ike. By assisting with evacuations, providing counseling services, mobile crisis outreach and sheltering operations, Community Centers showed tremendous dedication to people in communities across the Gulf Coast, Johnson said.

The Community Centers impacted most severely by hurricanes this season were the Gulf Coast Center in Galveston, Spindletop MHMR Services in Beaumont, Burke Center in Lufkin, Tri-County MHMR in Conroe, Tropical Texas Behavioral Health in Edinburg, MHMR Authority of Harris County in Houston, and Texana Center in Rosenberg.

The awards were presented at a statewide event that included representatives from across the country, who are affiliated with the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Directors (NACBHDD). 

The centers' recognized were: West Texas Centers for MHMR; Tropical Texas Behavioral Health; Burke Center; Spindletop MHMR Services; The Gulf Coast Center; MHMR Authority of Harris County; Hill Country Community MHMR Center; MHMR Services of the Concho Valley; Center for Healthcare Services; Texana; and Tri-County MHMR Services.

WTCMHMR serves people in Andrews, Borden, Crane, Dawson, Fisher, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Howard, Kent, Loving, Martin, Mitchell, Nolan, Reeves, Runnels, Scurry, Terrell, Terry, Upton, Ward, Winkler and Yoakum counties.