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Christian Journey Courses President Dee Dee Peterson and Secretary Lynn Heckler speak to Bandera County commissioners.
Photo by Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
July 17, 2024
Briefing from Bandera County Commissioners Court
By Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
The Bandera Prophet
During a budget workshop, Bandera County commissioners considered several block grant requests from local organizations.
Pending final budget approval, the court last week reached consensus on proposed increases to the Silver Sage for their Meals on Wheels program, the Utopia Library and Christian Journey Courses (formerly the Christian Job Corps).
CJC President Dee Dee Peterson said in the last nine months, 39 inmates at the Bandera County Jail have been served. Both men and women successfully completed the free five-week courses, she said.
“Our program is getting larger,” Peterson said. “We need some help.”
CJC Secretary Lynn Heckler said their primary funding comes from fundraisers. Last year, they requested $5,000 from the county, and were awarded $2,500. This year, they asked for and received $9,500.
“We are trying to reclaim these very broken people to be healthy, happy community citizens,” Heckler said. “We have seen great progress. We are not trying to correct the correctional institution. We are trying to correct and reset the inmates’ mindsets, and it’s working.”
All other proposed grant amounts remained the same as last year’s, including the Bandera County Boys & Girls Club; Bandera Honors Veterans; the Soil, Water and Conservation District; the San Antonio Food Bank; and the Bandera, Medina and Lakehills libraries.
In other business, commissioners unanimously agreed to ask the City of Bandera to contribute to the county’s dispatch budget, which is currently $892,000 per year.
“If anyone calls the city after hours, it goes to the county. To me, they ought to at least pay for one dispatcher,” Evans said. “I looked at their budget, and their salaries are high. If they can afford that, they can afford dispatch.”
Pending final budget approval, the court last week reached consensus on proposed increases to the Silver Sage for their Meals on Wheels program, the Utopia Library and Christian Journey Courses (formerly the Christian Job Corps).
CJC President Dee Dee Peterson said in the last nine months, 39 inmates at the Bandera County Jail have been served. Both men and women successfully completed the free five-week courses, she said.
“Our program is getting larger,” Peterson said. “We need some help.”
CJC Secretary Lynn Heckler said their primary funding comes from fundraisers. Last year, they requested $5,000 from the county, and were awarded $2,500. This year, they asked for and received $9,500.
“We are trying to reclaim these very broken people to be healthy, happy community citizens,” Heckler said. “We have seen great progress. We are not trying to correct the correctional institution. We are trying to correct and reset the inmates’ mindsets, and it’s working.”
All other proposed grant amounts remained the same as last year’s, including the Bandera County Boys & Girls Club; Bandera Honors Veterans; the Soil, Water and Conservation District; the San Antonio Food Bank; and the Bandera, Medina and Lakehills libraries.
In other business, commissioners unanimously agreed to ask the City of Bandera to contribute to the county’s dispatch budget, which is currently $892,000 per year.
“If anyone calls the city after hours, it goes to the county. To me, they ought to at least pay for one dispatcher,” Evans said. “I looked at their budget, and their salaries are high. If they can afford that, they can afford dispatch.”