ABOUT US
Noah Project - West was founded in 1984 when a group of concerned citizens approached Noah Project, Inc., for assistance in developing a program to deal with family violence. A local church
donated $2,000 as seed money and Scurry County donated use of the old county jail to house the shelter.
Noah Project - West is located in Snyder, Texas serving a primarily rural five county area. Governed by two volunteer Advisory Committees, which in turn furnished one member each to the Corporate Board of Directors in Abilene. Noah Project - West had four full time staff members to administer the program in this largely rural area.
The old jail, which housed the emergency shelter from 1984 until 1998, was over 100 years old with a metal building adjacent to it used as an office. The shelter’s three bedrooms were small, dingy, and crowded with a 10-bed capacity. One bathroom served all residents and food was prepared in a small kitchen. Despite renovation and maintenance efforts, the building had reached the point of no longer meeting the needs of the residents.
In the spring of 1994, ten years after the opening of the Noah Project - West facility for victims of family violence, a shelter committee was appointed by the Advisory Committee to determine whether to renovate and expand the 100 year old building or to build a new shelter on another site. The shelter committee determined that building a new facility would be more cost effective and relocating would provide a safer and more confidential setting.
Scurry County, Snyder Independent School District, the City of Snyder, and Western Texas College agreed to donate property that had been seized in tax foreclosure to Noah Project - West for the purpose of building a new facility. The property, consisting of two lots valued at $13,000.00, was deeded to Noah Project - West in the spring of 1995. With the donation of the property, Noah Project - West established a Steering Committee, made up of community leaders and advocates. The Committee’s goal was to seek sources of support and to provide advice and direction toward the completion of the proposed facility.
At the Campaign Strategy Dinner in January 1996, members of the committee pledged $10,400.00 to construction of the facility. A Community Wide Campaign Kick-Off Dinner was held March 28, 1996 in Snyder and in Sweetwater on May 18, 1996. Grants were written in the fall of 1996 and an ongoing search for community support was continued through presentations and speaking engagements. Confirmation of grant approvals began coming in around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in July 1997 and a contractor was hired and construction began. In September 1997, Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, was the guest speaker for a “Celebration of Hope” Dinner held in Snyder to raise awareness of the issue of family violence and the construction of the new facility. On April 3, 1998, Noah Project - West celebrated the opening of the new facility. It opened the doors completely debt free two years and six days after the initial Kick-Off Dinner in 1996.
With a desire to create a safer community for families and to improve networking among agencies, Noah Project - West initiated a community meeting in May 1997. This was the first meeting of the Family Violence Community Response Committee. This committee has since evolved into the Community Resource Coalition Group (CRCG) for Scurry County. Members include representatives from law enforcement, school system counselors and resource staff, the Children’s Advocacy Center, MHMR, Child Welfare and/or CPS workers, Gateway Family Services, etc.
Since the opening of the new facility in Snyder, the number of clients served increased an average of 125% over the same period prior to moving into the new facility. Noah Project - West continued to seek new avenues of support and expansion of the program that would enable us to meet the needs of victims of family violence in our area of West Texas.
Noah’s Attic, a resale shop, was opened in Snyder in October 1998, to benefit Noah Project - West and continues to be a vital source of support for the shelter. The community has shown tremendous support with donations of time and items for the shop.
In June 1999, the Advisory Committees in Nolan and Scurry Counties appointed a Task Force to research the advantages and disadvantages of autonomy from the corporate umbrella of Noah Project, Inc. The Task Force recommended autonomy in August 1999 and the Advisory Committees voted to proceed by informing the Noah Project, Inc. Board that Noah Project - West would seek independence. The Board was advised of the decision and offered their support and approval.
In September 1999, Gateway Family Services, Inc. was formed with an initial Board of Directors. Bylaws were adopted and Articles of Incorporation were filed. Gateway Family Services, Inc., submitted a 501(c)(3) application to the Internal Revenue Service office in October 1999.
Gateway Family Services, Inc. officially began serving victims independently of Noah Project, Inc. on March 1, 2000. Also in 2000, Gateway’s victim services program expanded to include serving victims of sexual assault as well as family violence victims.
Gateway opened an Outreach and Advocacy Office in Sweetwater, Texas in November 2001. Initially, this office was staffed two days a week with advocate caseworkers from Snyder. In March of 2002, Gateway received additional funding through a grant and hired two full-time caseworkers for this office. In subsequent years, this funding has been cut so the Sweetwater office is currently staffed three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm by a part-time staff person and on an as needed basis by Snyder staff on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Also in 2002, we began a structured education program providing sexual assault and family violence prevention education presentations to students in our service area school systems. Our staff presented 413 programs to 12,082 students during fiscal year 2013. In addition to the one-time presentations to students, we began working with the after-school program at Snyder Elementary several years ago. We send a staff person to the school three afternoons a week to provide violence prevention and character education programs. We present one program a week to each grade level for grades K – 5th
In the fall of 2005, Gateway secured donated office space in Mitchell, Fisher and Kent Counties and began sending an advocate to each of these counties one day a week. We experienced an increase in the numbers of victims served as well as community awareness and speaking engagements as a result of our presence weekly in these counties. The funding for staff and travel to the outreach offices has been reduced; as a result of that, we now send staff to Fisher and Kent Counties twice a month instead of weekly.
We began a new summer program for children in 2007 in partnership with the Scurry County Boys & Girls Club. Gateway provided breakfast and lunches to the children at the club every weekday and violence prevention/character education programs three afternoons a week. We knew many of our local non-resident client’s children go to the club in the summer and often stay all day without eating. We had been concerned about poorer children who often get their best or only meal of the day at school and go hungry during the summer months. For the summers of 2010 - 2013, Gateway hired and has hired part-time staff to prepare meals with food purchased by the Boys & Girls Club and also provided a staff person to help with activities 4 hrs. a day.
Gateway currently has a staff of 17, five full-time and twelve part-time employees.
Noah Project - West is located in Snyder, Texas serving a primarily rural five county area. Governed by two volunteer Advisory Committees, which in turn furnished one member each to the Corporate Board of Directors in Abilene. Noah Project - West had four full time staff members to administer the program in this largely rural area.
The old jail, which housed the emergency shelter from 1984 until 1998, was over 100 years old with a metal building adjacent to it used as an office. The shelter’s three bedrooms were small, dingy, and crowded with a 10-bed capacity. One bathroom served all residents and food was prepared in a small kitchen. Despite renovation and maintenance efforts, the building had reached the point of no longer meeting the needs of the residents.
In the spring of 1994, ten years after the opening of the Noah Project - West facility for victims of family violence, a shelter committee was appointed by the Advisory Committee to determine whether to renovate and expand the 100 year old building or to build a new shelter on another site. The shelter committee determined that building a new facility would be more cost effective and relocating would provide a safer and more confidential setting.
Scurry County, Snyder Independent School District, the City of Snyder, and Western Texas College agreed to donate property that had been seized in tax foreclosure to Noah Project - West for the purpose of building a new facility. The property, consisting of two lots valued at $13,000.00, was deeded to Noah Project - West in the spring of 1995. With the donation of the property, Noah Project - West established a Steering Committee, made up of community leaders and advocates. The Committee’s goal was to seek sources of support and to provide advice and direction toward the completion of the proposed facility.
At the Campaign Strategy Dinner in January 1996, members of the committee pledged $10,400.00 to construction of the facility. A Community Wide Campaign Kick-Off Dinner was held March 28, 1996 in Snyder and in Sweetwater on May 18, 1996. Grants were written in the fall of 1996 and an ongoing search for community support was continued through presentations and speaking engagements. Confirmation of grant approvals began coming in around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in July 1997 and a contractor was hired and construction began. In September 1997, Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, was the guest speaker for a “Celebration of Hope” Dinner held in Snyder to raise awareness of the issue of family violence and the construction of the new facility. On April 3, 1998, Noah Project - West celebrated the opening of the new facility. It opened the doors completely debt free two years and six days after the initial Kick-Off Dinner in 1996.
With a desire to create a safer community for families and to improve networking among agencies, Noah Project - West initiated a community meeting in May 1997. This was the first meeting of the Family Violence Community Response Committee. This committee has since evolved into the Community Resource Coalition Group (CRCG) for Scurry County. Members include representatives from law enforcement, school system counselors and resource staff, the Children’s Advocacy Center, MHMR, Child Welfare and/or CPS workers, Gateway Family Services, etc.
Since the opening of the new facility in Snyder, the number of clients served increased an average of 125% over the same period prior to moving into the new facility. Noah Project - West continued to seek new avenues of support and expansion of the program that would enable us to meet the needs of victims of family violence in our area of West Texas.
Noah’s Attic, a resale shop, was opened in Snyder in October 1998, to benefit Noah Project - West and continues to be a vital source of support for the shelter. The community has shown tremendous support with donations of time and items for the shop.
In June 1999, the Advisory Committees in Nolan and Scurry Counties appointed a Task Force to research the advantages and disadvantages of autonomy from the corporate umbrella of Noah Project, Inc. The Task Force recommended autonomy in August 1999 and the Advisory Committees voted to proceed by informing the Noah Project, Inc. Board that Noah Project - West would seek independence. The Board was advised of the decision and offered their support and approval.
In September 1999, Gateway Family Services, Inc. was formed with an initial Board of Directors. Bylaws were adopted and Articles of Incorporation were filed. Gateway Family Services, Inc., submitted a 501(c)(3) application to the Internal Revenue Service office in October 1999.
Gateway Family Services, Inc. officially began serving victims independently of Noah Project, Inc. on March 1, 2000. Also in 2000, Gateway’s victim services program expanded to include serving victims of sexual assault as well as family violence victims.
Gateway opened an Outreach and Advocacy Office in Sweetwater, Texas in November 2001. Initially, this office was staffed two days a week with advocate caseworkers from Snyder. In March of 2002, Gateway received additional funding through a grant and hired two full-time caseworkers for this office. In subsequent years, this funding has been cut so the Sweetwater office is currently staffed three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm by a part-time staff person and on an as needed basis by Snyder staff on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Also in 2002, we began a structured education program providing sexual assault and family violence prevention education presentations to students in our service area school systems. Our staff presented 413 programs to 12,082 students during fiscal year 2013. In addition to the one-time presentations to students, we began working with the after-school program at Snyder Elementary several years ago. We send a staff person to the school three afternoons a week to provide violence prevention and character education programs. We present one program a week to each grade level for grades K – 5th
In the fall of 2005, Gateway secured donated office space in Mitchell, Fisher and Kent Counties and began sending an advocate to each of these counties one day a week. We experienced an increase in the numbers of victims served as well as community awareness and speaking engagements as a result of our presence weekly in these counties. The funding for staff and travel to the outreach offices has been reduced; as a result of that, we now send staff to Fisher and Kent Counties twice a month instead of weekly.
We began a new summer program for children in 2007 in partnership with the Scurry County Boys & Girls Club. Gateway provided breakfast and lunches to the children at the club every weekday and violence prevention/character education programs three afternoons a week. We knew many of our local non-resident client’s children go to the club in the summer and often stay all day without eating. We had been concerned about poorer children who often get their best or only meal of the day at school and go hungry during the summer months. For the summers of 2010 - 2013, Gateway hired and has hired part-time staff to prepare meals with food purchased by the Boys & Girls Club and also provided a staff person to help with activities 4 hrs. a day.
Gateway currently has a staff of 17, five full-time and twelve part-time employees.
Gateway’s Services Include:
- 24 Hour Hotline- Emergency Transportation
- Shelter for Victims of Family Violence or Sexual Assault
- Safety Planning
- Peer Crisis Counseling and Support Groups
- Medical, Legal, Justice System Advocacy and Accompaniment
- Education Regarding the Cycle of Family Violence and Recognizing the Red Flags
- Violence Prevention Programs for Students
- Community Education Programs
All services are free of charge and confidential.
Fiscal Year 2014 Statistics
September 1, 2013 - August 31, 2014If you are experiencing any of these and need help, call
