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Group works with at-risk children, seeks assistance By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | Photo by Sue Watson
Showing support
Supervisor
Ronnie Joe Bennett (left) and chancery clerk Chuck Thomas (right)
present a letter of endorsement to Gift of Life Center representatives
Tynetta Gainer and Annie Stewart. |
There
are a few good people in Byhalia who are on a mission to help children
who are at risk due to any number of issues they face. Gift
of Life is a Christian ministry that counsels at-risk children and
reaches out to help families. Some of the activities they report
helping with are assisting children with their school work, supplying
school supplies, helping obtain goods for families whose homes burn,
assisting children who have been sexually assaulted, helping young men
and women obtain a GED, and homeschooling. Annie
Stewart and Tynetta Gainer met with the Marshall County Board of
Supervisors recently seeking a letter of support and financial
assistance for their non-profit organization. “I would like for every child to come to the center,” Stewart said. “Open your mind and hearts and wallets to help.” The
two women believe if they have the support of the county, the center
will thrive. As it is, Stewart put all her retirement savings into the
center, Gainer said. Gainer is a professional social worker. “My job is to counsel with children and to reach parents,” Gainer said. The group will seek grant monies to support their center. Stewart provided some examples of how families come to them for help. Some
are homeless and there was an instance where a parent had to choose
whether to pay the power bill and keep the lights on or to buy food for
the three children. “It’s hard for a single parent to choose between food and lights,” Stewart said. The
Gift of Life group has tried to start a food pantry in Byhalia,
teaching children how to cook and working to help children reach their
potential, she said. The board provided a letter
of endorsement to the Gift of Life Center although supervisors said
they have no money. The letter acknowledged the service performed at
the center. Next up before the board were Bruce
Willis and Tom Heard with the Natural Resources Conservation Services.
They were invited by supervisor George Zinn to discuss what NRCS does
to help with erosion caused by a single event, such as the washing out
of culverts and roads by flood waters the first weekend in May. NRCS
will pay for stabilization of culverts that sustained partial damage
from flood waters, Heard said. The programs provide from 75 percent to
85 percent of the cost to fix partial erosion problems. Supervisors
asked if NRCS would pay for work already done if the county produced
photographs documenting damages. Most of the washouts have been
repaired already. Larry Hall, county
administrator, said the county has 20 pipes to replace that traffic is
still traveling over, but has already replaced many washed-out culverts
because of safety issues. Heard said jobs
requiring a minimum of $15,000 are eligible and that they will consider
projects that have already been repaired that may qualify for funds. Bennett said the county needed help with big washouts but the NRCS program is for projects that need a band-aid. Larger
projects like repairs in the upper headwaters of Pigeon Roost or
Coldwater River watersheds are handled by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Afterward,
Hall listed several grants the county can seek – a trails construction
or reconstruction project, a wastewater community facilities project,
an energy audit, and a grant to help stabilize Mt. Carmel Road, now
under construction in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. |
