Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Henderson County HELP Center and Maggie’s House Child Advocacy Center CEO Leslie Saunders speaks Oct. 26 to the Cedar Creek Republican Club, telling members about services offered.

CEDAR CREEK LAKE–Oct. 26, Cedar Creek Republican Club members learned more about the Henderson County HELP Center and Maggie’s House Child Advocacy Center from its CEO, Leslie Saunders.
Athens-based Henderson County HELP Center provides an array of support services across the county, Saunders said, which are funded in part by local, state and federal money, she informed the group. For one, there’s the United Way HELP Line, through which families can receive financial assistance with utilities and medication, as well as bus tickets, according to Saunders.
“No cash goes out the window, everything works on a voucher system,” Saunders said. Last year, $130,000 worth of services were provided, she added.
The organization also is linked through the 211 system, which is a reference and referral service, Saunders shared. “If you call or have a family member or a classroom kiddo that needs support services, you can call 211 and you say, ‘I live in Henderson County,’ you’re going to get our phone number,” Saunders told the club. The 211 service is available across Texas for localized support services, she continued.
Based in Athens, Maggie’s House works to provide hope, healing and justice to the smallest child victims of abuse and neglect, the organization’s literature states. Maggie’s House, a child advocacy center, works closely with county law enforcement, Child Protective Services, the County and District Attorneys’ offices, along with medical and mental health professionals, the literature continues.
Services provided through Maggie’s House are forensic interviews, therapy, medical exams, prevention programs, training the community and partner agencies, as well as victim and family services, according to the brochure.
The Henderson County Crimes Against Children Task Force is located at the HELP Center, she told the club, “and we see them making a difference,” Saunders shared. The task force consists of six officers from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, according to Saunders, who work with those who receive services from Maggie’s House, which is located nearby.
“That means tenured officers that work these cases have come together, and instead of having cases fall through the crack, or cases that might not make it to indictment, these gentlemen and ladies are working those cases immediately, and they’re working as a team to get these cases to indictment,” Saunders said. “And so before, we had 14 entities, now we have the task force, and when they see these kiddos, they sit with them through that forensic interview and they get those cases worked very quickly.”
The HELP Center also provides teen sexual health programs starting from sixth grade through high school. That program serves about 2,100 kids per year, Saunders said, and consists of eight sessions.
There’s also the Henderson County Adult Crime Victims Services program, Saunders said. HELP Center workers are sometimes called to the scene of a crime to help those adult victims, Saunders remarked. “That way, law enforcement can just get the facts,” according to Saunders, while her workers take care of that victim.
From that point forward, she continued, the HELP Center follows that victim through the prosecution phase. Services include counseling and having a sexual assault nursing exam with a HELP Center worker present, the latter aligning with victims’ legal rights, according to Saunders.
To learn more about Henderson County HELP Center or Maggie’s House, call (903) 675-4357. Their website is thehelpcenter.org.