Uvalde County’s district attorney said the Uvalde Together Resiliency Center will not shut down despite the end of funding.
Federal and state Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding for counseling services to the Resiliency Center is set to expire in April 2024.
Uvalde County commissioners voted this week to end the contract with the Ecumenical Center, the San Antonio-based organization that oversees the Resiliency Center.
Uvalde D.A. Christina Mitchell said this does not mean the center will stop services or shut down, as first reported by the Uvalde Leader-News.
She told county commissioners a local agency should handle the administration of the Resiliency Center.
The center was established following the Robb Elementary school shooting in May 2022.
It provides long term mental health counseling services with trauma and grief specialist at no cost for families and the community.
Several local providers have already worked with the Ecumenical Center as subcontractors to provide support.
The Ecumenical Center said it has helped provide over 14,000 counseling sessions in English and Spanish for more than 5,200 Uvalde residents since June 2022.
“We are deeply honored and humbled to be a part of the healing journey of those affected by the tragic events that occurred at Robb Elementary in May 2022,” said Mary Beth Fisk, the executive director of the Ecumenical Center.
Mitchell told commissioners her office is working to secure future state and federal funding.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents San Antonio and Uvalde, urged state officials to continue the funding.
“The brutality if the AR-15 has left a gaping wound in the community of Uvalde. People are attempting to survive with the pain and trauma of May 24th every single day,” Gutierrez said in a press release. “This is the kind of neglect of rural Texas that left Uvalde vulnerable in the first place."
