Generous Donation Affords Crisis Intervention Unit New Vehicle

A much needed upgrade to a vital piece of equipment was recently made possible for Tom Green County’s Crisis Intervention Unit, who have purchased a new vehicle that will enable them to pick up and transport victims and survivors of violence to various assistance agencies within the county.

The team at the CIU held fundraisers netting approximately $5,000 to put toward the vehicle, a sum that was matched by the City of San Angelo and Tom Green County. The lion’s share, however, was donated by the San Angelo Health Foundation, who awarded over $15,000 to the CIU.

The vehicle was found on a “buy board” that markets new vehicles to government agencies and was expediently delivered. Prior to the purchase of the new white Ford Flex, the CIU was using an outdated silver van with the lettering peeling off.

“It was a very old van and we didn’t trust it to take it out of town,” said Rita Guthrie, CIU Coordinator. “The air conditioner didn’t work and the heater didn’t work, so we just really needed something. And we needed something that was pretty low to the ground, with a long wheel base, with three rows of seats, so if we have a lot of people we can transport them all at once.”

Guthrie explained that the specific needs in the vehicle are important so that they can easily transport elderly, children and victims who may have been injured or difficulty with mobility.

“We’ve made a couple of trips out of town to pick people up and take them to the shelter; [we] transport [victims], like if they need to go to the hospital after an assault…if we need to transport people to other charities, like Christians in Action or Catholic outreach, we can transport them there and help them access the financial [assistance programs]. Just whatever they need, we try to accommodate.”

The CIU constantly has two volunteers on call, who respond to callouts from the police department and sheriff’s office. The majority of those—roughly 80 percent— are for domestic violence, Guthrie said, but also include, suicides, homicides, fatal car crashes, drunk driving incidents with injuries to victims, and basically any incident that involves victims of violence or death where victims or survivors are in need of support.

“The main thing we do there besides the crisis counseling and intervention is offer to help them apply for an emergency protective order. We usually do that when we go on calls,” Guthrie said. “We can help them file for crime victim’s compensation…bereavement pay for next of king, maybe some travel expenses. For victims of family violence, crime victim’s compensation can help pay for relocation…”

On average, the CIU gets called out by law enforcement to 15-20 incidents per month. The volunteer-driven unit has been especially busy over the past two weeks with the spike in fatality investigations, and Guthrie and her co-worker Sandy are the only two full-time employees manning the office and handling the paperwork generated from call-outs.

“People can come in and see us,” Guthrie said. “It’s best to call ahead, but we don’t have to wait until somebody is referred to us by law enforcement. If they just want to come in and talk to us about what their options are, we can talk to them about that, do some safety planning and tell them about resources that are available to help and help them make an escape plan.”

Approximately 20 volunteers are currently on the call-out schedule for the CIU, however Guthrie says they are in need of more and will be hosting a training course in October to qualify new volunteers. The training is intensive and runs on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for six weeks before volunteers are added to the rotating schedule.