Jenny's Hope in Schools
Located just northwest of the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Wise County’s population grew from 48,793 in 2000 to 74,890 in 2022 – a staggering 53.4 percent increase. While our county continues to grow at an accelerated rate, the area is severely underserved by mental health providers – 2,630 people to one provider. The state average is currently 760:1.
Wise County Christian Counseling was founded in 2007 to address the mental health needs of everyone in our growing county. But one segment of our population – our children – needed us most. Statistics show that one in 12 children in the U.S. experienced the death of an immediate family member. That’s at least one child in every classroom. Those statistics certainly rang true in our community.
In 2017 we discovered the counseling center had 59 families with children on the wait list for grief counseling. Fifty-nine. As an organization whose sole purpose is to serve the community, WCCC could hardly bear that 59 sets of parents were on the edge of their seats waiting for us to help them. It was then that we decided to start a free grief center for children and adults housed within our counseling headquarters. With the help of volunteers, we opened the doors of Jenny’s Hope in 2018.
Jenny’s Hope gets its name from Jenny Bazillion, whose mother Beverly Ross is the founder of Wise County Christian Counseling. When Jenny died after a sudden illness, her young daughter was left to pick up the pieces and deal with the unimaginable. Helping children and their families navigate the perilous journey of grief was something Beverly understood well.
Immediately, the need for Jenny’s Hope grew quickly. Five years in, we began to understand that the natural progression of our grief center was to go beyond our doors and out into the community. The impact of our outreach grief support program, Jenny’s Hope in Schools, was immediately felt.
Immediately, the need for Jenny’s Hope grew quickly. Five years in, we began to understand that the natural progression of our grief center was to go beyond our doors and out into the community. The impact of our outreach grief support program, Jenny’s Hope in Schools, was immediately felt.
Immediately, the need for Jenny’s Hope grew quickly. Five years in, we began to understand that the natural progression of our grief center was to go beyond our doors and out into the community. The impact of our outreach grief support program, Jenny’s Hope in Schools, was immediately felt.
In one year alone, one of Wise County’s smaller towns, Paradise, experienced the unfathomable loss of four young children in the town’s one elementary school of 425 students. It would have been impossible for the school’s lone counselor to provide all the support these children, teachers and administrators needed. The county also experienced similar losses – and a need for additional mental health support – in the small towns of Alvord, Chico and Decatur during that period.
What we as a counseling center have learned through all of this heartbreaking loss is that there is a huge gap in resources for these small school districts, and they desperately need our help.
Expanding grief counseling support for Wise County schools and other local organizations addresses two major needs of this rapidly growing area. One, it allows Jenny’s Hope to better train our counselors to serve our growing county. Two, it allows us to further develop and implement a program that better equips educators, school counselors and administrators with the skills to support grieving students, their families and staff members within schools.
Our team mobilizes quickly in the wake of community tragedy to offer practical tools. Additional grief counselors will also allow us to serve these children and adults on an ongoing basis through counseling at the grief center.
Beyond our immediate help, we train and equip school counselors and other staff with the tools to recognize signs of grief in children and adolescents, the skills to communicate with children and families experiencing loss, and effective strategies that support teachers and students at every grade level.
Because of our excellent counselors and the widespread need for their services, we have a long wait list. When an event at a school happens, we employ an “all hands on deck” approach, making it impossible to meet with our regular clients. Because of the infrequent nature of tragedies, we are unable to have counselors solely assigned to this project. Since school districts don’t have funding for outside services like this, we have to use our own resources. It’s not a singular site visit. In cases like Paradise, for example, we have to provide ongoing grief services if we are truly offering the support needed.
Barriers include the costs of the program, participation in the schools because administrators don’t recognize the need for grief work, and lack of visibility in the community. Through grants and fundraising we are able to address our financial needs. Through one-on-one-meetings with administrators and proactive meetings with counselors, we are able to promote the need in schools. And through social media, press releases and public appearances, we are raising the visibility.
Jenny’s Hope in Schools proudly collaborates with seven school districts, Texas Education Service Center 11, city police and fire departments, local, and local churches.
