AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – According to Family Support Services, their mission is to empower individuals and families through comprehensive advocacy, education, and intervention services.
“One of the things that makes us really unique as well is we provide the continuum of services for anybody,” said Kirk Daniels, Family Support Services chief executive officer. “We look to not just address someone who is just experiencing that violence or trauma in the moment but set them up for long-term success and also ensure generational success,”.
Daniels said that the nonprofit offers a multitude of services.
“We serve survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking here in Amarillo and the Texas panhandle,” said Daniels…”We operate the area’s only 24-hour hotline…We have crisis services that are in-the-moment advocacy that can help out anybody that are going through those tough times right now. We have clinic services for anybody who wants to seek support for their mental health.”
Daniels continued, “they can come do that and we can bill insurance and we can also do self-pay, where we will evaluate your financial means and we will have you pay on a sliding scale, and you can see a counselor for as low as $35 a session and then we have a lot of educational, preventive measures that we have in place. We spend a lot of time in the schools, and we partner with AISD on many leadership programs and leadership development programs. Our youth advisory committee here at Family Support Services as well.”
Daniels added that FSS is unique as it looks to do the continuum of work for everyone who comes through.
“Someone that needs the assistance that we can provide can get all of it here,” explained Daniels. “They can start with one case worker who can work them through their crisis moments and then transfer them to another floor and can see you in the counseling department and get you set up for long-term mental health success.”
Daniels continued, “if you have a kiddo aged zero to four, you can qualify for our HOPES program, which is an in-home early childhood casework program that can help you and your family set up for success when you have a young kid…to be able to provide a continuum of service to everyone that comes through as compared to our contemporaries throughout the state, that maybe only do one or two of those things, really means a lot to us, because it provides us an opportunity to work really well together within this building.”
Throughout the year, FSS holds fundraisers to help with its mission, including its annual Mardi Gras and Harley Parties.
“Like every other nonprofit in the panhandle, community support and support of people that really care of what we are doing and are as passionate about what we’re doing is paramount to all of it,” shared Daniels. “We can’t operate without those people and their supporters, and things like the Harley Party and the Mardi Gras Party are great ways for us to get in front of them to have a good time, to get with all of our community partners and sponsors
Daniels went on to say, “they help cover the cost of the sliding scale counseling appointments that we do where you self-pay. It helps us cover the cost of the safe house primarily and all the supplies and the personnel that go into running the domestic violence safe house here in Amarillo, it goes into general operating in everything we’re doing, and making sure we can continue to deliver high-quality services, not just quality services said Daniels.
Daniels talks more about the safe house that FSS provides and what it means to do that.
“It is an unduplicated service, it really is. Nobody in Amarillo is really doing that for that population and unfortunately even what we do and what we have is not enough. We still find ourselves at capacity pretty frequently and the average stay at our safe house is actually four to six weeks. So when someone does come into our safe house from a violent situation, they are not just coming for the weekend, not just for the night for safety, but they are coming in to get comprehensive casework where we can help them get documents, we can help them with legal proceedings, we can help them navigate CPS cases, custody battles, divorce proceedings, things like that.
Daniels continued, “we can help them get driver’s licenses, job skills, job interviews, and transportation. All of the things like that, life doesn’t stop when you have been through, what have been the hardest days of your life, and when you come into the safe house, we help make sure life continues for you and that you are able to pull yourself out of this cycle.”
Daniels said the annual Harley Party is on Saturday, July 27th at the Amarillo National Center at the Tri-State Fairgrounds.
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