When we first met him, Evelio was 11 and had just learned he wouldn’t be joining his sisters in a forever home. Years later, that separation still weighs heavily on him. He says he treasures the moments he’s able to see them. “I just hug my sisters, talk to them about what we did… like in the past like how we used to go outside every day,” says Evelio.
The Texas suicide rate is up nearly 40 percent since 2000, and call centers across the state do not have enough staff to answer all of the calls.
“We do not have the people trained, we do not have the number of crisis centers we need in the state,” said Kay Pleasant. The bill would create a sustainable funding plan for the centers and their resources.
With broken ground, the beginnings of an addition to the CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Northpark Campus became official, according to CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System CEO Todd Hancock. The 35,000 square foot facility will cost $36 million.
“They lost everything,” says Barbara Monteilh, an American Red Cross Volunteer from Texas. “One of the survivors came up yesterday and she said ‘I just need some socks for my kids’, you know, and so we pointed them to that room so they could get their needs.” Volunteers currently on the ground are joining efforts to help survivors take one day at a time.
“It’s not (only) the hotel in the bad part of town where you think crime occurs. Human trafficking can occur in very nice hotels, it can occur in middle-of-the-road hotels,” said Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman. Putman says Tyler can be a stop for “pimps” who have coerced and forced women into sex work.