Mainly clear. Low 58F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..
Mainly clear. Low 58F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: April 27, 2022 @ 9:07 pm
Sandra Brazil-Hamilton, who worked for more than two decades in the behavioral health field, was hired as part of a mental health program approved in August by Smit County commissioners.
Sandra Brazil-Hamilton, who worked for more than two decades in the behavioral health field, was hired as part of a mental health program approved in August by Smit County commissioners.
Sandra Brazil-Hamilton says she aims to help Smith County Jail inmates with mental health issues become “productive individuals.”
Brazil-Hamilton, who worked for more than two decades in the behavioral health field, was hired as part of a mental health program approved in August by commissioners.
The Community Diversion Coordinator Program is funded by a two-year grant from The Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health and allowed the county to hire Brazil-Hamilton as an advocate for jail inmates with mental health issues.
Brazil-Hamilton spoke to commissioners Tuesday about her work as part of the program.
“(The goal of the state grant) is to encourage, to empower court systems through collaboration, education and leadership, thereby improving the lives of individuals with mental health needs, IDD — intellectual developmental disabilities — and substance use disorders,” she said.
The funding allows for care of community members with mental health issues to help them avoid jail or be diverted from jail; saves tax dollars through providing people treatment and getting them out of jail; and works with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and other entities to improve issues inside the jail, Brazil-Hamilton said.
With everything the funding allows for, Brazil-Hamilton said, “The biggest thing I think we are interested in is also providing that help to our community because it is about people and it is the right thing to do.”
Helping people with mental illness is a “complex” situation, Brazil-Hamilton said.
“There is no easy answer to any of this, but we are working on it, and that’s the positive thing I want you all to take away from this today,” she told commissioners.
Brazil-Hamilton said her duties and advocacies include meeting with inmates to make sure their needs are met; creating a plan of treatment and support to divert them to treatment and keep them out of jail; reporting to the diversion coordinator and probation; going to court appearances; and helping people stay out of the judicial system, out of homelessness, get continued treatment and find jobs.
“I worked at the hospital, East Texas Medical Center Behavioral Health, for 23 years and retired from that … I know the steps that need to be taken to help people get to wellness,” Brazil-Hamilton said.
She said that’s possible only through officials working together.
Something that is not often talked about is that “given the right help, the right assist, the right net of support, (people with mental health issues) get well and they become productive citizens,” Brazil-Hamilton said. “I saw in this grant the opportunity to make that happen.”
She has been working with the Behavioral Health Leadership Team in Tyler to create a brochure of all the mental health resources available in the community. This will help law enforcement, case workers and others know how to aid those with mental health issues.
“Sometimes, it’s just that little piece of help that helps people get to the next level and stay out in our community to be productive individuals,” she said.
Commissioners on Tuesday also accepted donations from businesses and community members to help revitalize a rose garden in the downtown Tyler square.
Andy Bergfeld, president of Bergfeld Realty Co., said he first took action to revitalize the garden on the plaza side of the downtown square in 2020.
When things shut down in the community because of COVID-19 pandemic, Bergfeld said he had two teenage children who were “bouncing off the walls,” so he decided to take them to do community work.
“I took my two boys up to the rose garden in front of (the) Plaza and (People’s Petroleum Building) and just told them to weed it,” Bergfeld said. “I just wanted them to see … kind of what it’s like to go and do something for somebody else that you don’t even get credit for.”
Once he and his children were there, Bergfeld said he noticed that there was a broken sprinkler and the thought occurred to him that the garden would need to be weeded again soon. This led him to call Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran to ask about companies adopting the garden.
Bergfeld said he put together an email asking if people could donate rose bushes or labor. About 40 rose bushes and 60 azalea bushes were donated, he said.
Brownlow & Sons Garden Works also agreed to plant the donated bushes, and Rainbow Irrigation and Landscaping put in new sprinklers at no cost.
“People were so happy to feel like they have given or they have done something to make this a better place,” Bergfeld said. “We’ve got a great city — the downtown has really come a long way in the last 15 years, and man it’s exciting to think where it’s going to be in the next 10 years.”
And in other business Tuesday, county employees recognized for their years of service include:
I cover local government in East Texas for the Tyler Morning Telegraph. I’m from East Texas and love getting to report on the area I grew up in. Texas A&M University former student. If you have story ideas email me at mmcham@tylerpaper.com
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