More Information

Legal

The Hill Country Community Needs Council is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation organized under the laws of Texas. Its corporate headquarters is the center listed below.

Financial Support

The bulk of Needs Council funding comes from donations from individuals. We also receive grants from several government, nonprofit, and educational agencies.

While our primary fundraising focus is an annual fund drive done in February and March, we welcome donations at any time of year.

A donation to the Needs Council is an excellent way to remember a loved one and to support the community. Birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion can be remembered in this way.

From the Director

HCCNC doesn’t meet all the needs nor do all programs address long- range problems. Gaps exist in public transportation, affordable housing, medication assistance for chronic health care needs, services for those with chronic mental illness, and others. Housing for the poor appears to be increasingly scarce, unaffordable, and substandard. 

A year from now the overview may be a bit different. Nevertheless, the Needs Council remains committed to identifying and filling gaps in social services.

--Cindy Heifner, Executive Director

Board of Directors

D.G. McCoury, President

George Keller, Vice President

Mike Elvir, Treasurer

Alice Hester, Secretary

Patricia Bosquez

Sherilea Brown

Jason Bush

Ricki Giese

Gayle Long

Pat McGowan

Linda Treibs

Pat Weinheimer

Carol Wichman

Members of the board are nominated by an existing board member(s) and selected by vote. They serve a maximum of two three-year terms.

A Brief History

In the summer of 1983 a number of concerned individuals of Fredericksburg met to list community service organizations and committees for coordination purposes and to “identify gaps in social services”, which the group knew existed. That summer the Hill Country Community Needs Council (HCCNC) was born, with the following purpose: The Hill Country Community Needs Council is committed to promote the common good and general welfare of the people of the community by providing an organizational structure for meeting human needs.

These goals will be met by matching those in need with the appropriate agency or service, by maintaining up to date community resource files, and by serving needs not being met by existing services.

By-laws were adopted on June 9, 1983 and the following slate of officers was elected:

• President – Barbara Hayden
• Vide-President – Dick Stuewe
• Secretary – Katherine Peake
• Treasurer – Lucille Rochs

During those first months the council operated with Mary Lindig as Acting Administrator and Dot Dittmar as Coordinator of Council Activities. These women donated many hours compiling information and raising funds to hire a full time director.

One of the first acts was to establish a crisis intervention center at the Hill Country Memorial Hospital. A full time coordinator was hired in April 1985.

More Recently

Deborah Agnew became Executive Director in November 2001 and inherited a rich, twenty year tradition of helping. At her retirement in the Fall of 2009, Cindy Heifner stepped in and is now the Executive Director -- bringing with her many years of experience.

Perhaps HCCNC’s most visible program, and certainly the one most dependent on reliable volunteers, is Medical Transportation. Volunteers drive persons to medical appointments in town, in Kerrville, in San Antonio, and in Austin. Clients may or may not drive in town, but certainly are not comfortable or able to drive out of town. We ask that persons use the Needs Council as a resource of last resort. This service is free.

A unique program, utilizing young people from St. Mary’s School as volunteers, is Care Calls. Elementary children make daily phone calls to seniors or disabled adults. Before beginning, students learn about aging, such as memory lapses and hearing loss, and about talking on the phone. This program costs very little, but it is a very important asset to the community. Students call from school during the school week and year, some kids continue to call on holidays and during the summer. Highlights of Care Calls are the one or two times during the school year that children visit in the homes and the end of year Coke Float Party at Markt Platz for both young and old.

The Needs Council has worked with the Crisis Council of Kerrville since 1989 to provide a wide range of domestic violence services. Persons needing protective orders to stop/prevent abuse are referred to Tammy Keener, the County Attorney. We have the paperwork in our office. If the person has no safe place to live, there is a shelter in Kerrville and we initiate that contact. We also encourage the person to participate in counseling. We have a domestic violence counselor in the office one day a week for individual and group counseling. A children’s counselor is available one day a week, as is a sexual assault counselor. There is a batterer’s group, which also meets in town and to whom we can make referrals. We periodically sponsor day long workshops related to a specific family violence issue. In 2006 we received a grant allowing us to pay for housing and child care for up to six months to enable victims to more readily leave abusive relationships. That program continues through the council’s own funding.

The HCCNC administers the Ministerial Association Fund and board designated monies to assist the needy with emergency medicine, utility payments, rent, counseling, dental, child care, and miscellaneous expenses. Assistance is limited to twice per year at no more than $250 per visit although there are sometimes extenuating circumstances, which qualify persons for “extraordinary assistance.”  

The Needs Council is a referral source for area and local agencies. If HCCNC cannot meet a need, referrals can be made to someone who may be able to help, such as the Food Pantry, Good Samaritan Center, or to one of the other places listed in an extensive resource directory, which the agency maintains. The Needs Council works with St. Vincent’s, which also assists families financially, and various churches in town. Others with whom HCCNC networks are Head Start, Golden Hub, Boy’s and Girl’s Club, the A & M Extension Service, Living Well College, and others.

Navigators, Handyman and Yard Care are programs, which are important to a few people. Navigators assist persons to fill out forms, write letters, or figure out paperwork. Handyman and Yard Care provide those services for persons no longer able. Oftentimes the request is simply to mow a yard or change an air conditioning filter.

The Needs Council is the 211 contact for United Way of San Antonio. 211 works like 911 except 211 is information access whereas 911 is emergency access.

Throughout the year the Needs Council responds to seasonal needs. During the hottest months fans are given away. In late summer qualified families register for school supplies. The HCCNC reimburses families for their purchase of supplies. When winter blows in, the Needs Council responds to calls for heaters, blankets, and coats through “Warm Winter.” Many of the coats are recycled through organized drives in the schools and churches. By mid-November the “Holiday Family Program” is generating calls from churches and individuals who want to help with meals and holiday cheer. The HCCNC networks with agencies to match up people with abundance with families in need. One of the favorite Christmas projects is Angel Tree, whereby “Angels” represent elderly persons who have little or no family and might not otherwise have a Christmas gift. The Needs Council signs kids up for Toys for Tots. For the past three years special holiday gifts have made it possible to give utility payments for some needy families.

Food 4 Kids is a program begun in fall 2008 to address possible weekend malnutrition in children who regularly receive breakfast and lunch at school during the week. Groups “adopt” a school and prepare backpacks of nonperishable nutritious food to go home on Fridays with children identified by the schools as possibly at risk for weekend hunger.

When after school care was identified as a need, the HCCNC provided money so more children could receive that service at the Boys and Girls Club. The Needs Council works with the Extension Service, who does car seat safety inspections, to provide funds for safe car seats. The Needs Council provides scholarships for mentally challenged adults to attend classes through Living Well College. Some years when funds are available, the HCCNC works with the County Attorney’s Office to provide camp experiences for children whose families have used Family Violence services. The Needs Council connects people wanting to help with people needing help and works with church mission committees and youth groups, especially, in this regard. In the spring of 2007 we helped identify homes in need to repairs and painting for UMArmy, a Methodist summer youth program. The Needs Council provides a case manager for families wanting to work toward specific goals. In 2009 our goal was to spend more resources on promoting wellness and on financial incentive programs related to parenting classes, financial planning, and savings programs.