County aids Rancho Brazos Community Centers’ expansion move

Two decades ago, Acton United Methodist Church planted a ministry seed by holding Bible classes in a tent on a parking lot in the Rancho Brazos neighborhood off Davis Road.

The seed took root and grew.

The tent was replaced with a building constructed at 3701 Sundown Trail and dubbed the Rancho Brazos Community Center.

Over time, a satellite location was opened in nearby Sandy Beach.

At both locations, tutoring and other after-school activities have been offered, and hot meals have been served to children and families.

As the years passed, the ministry’s roots spread and became more entrenched. Its protective umbrella grew larger, extending at times to other families in the county from Lipan to Cresson.

The Rancho Brazos Community Centers organization became a nonprofit. Once the sole initiative of Acton Methodist, RBCC now has board members from the Hood County community.

There are collaborating organizations now, too — quite a few of them. They include the YMCA of Hood County, the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center, the Tarrant County Area Food Bank, StoneWater Church, The Bridge of Granbury and Purple Hearts, Inc., a food service and free food distribution program in Fort Worth.

RBCC is a partner agency of United Way of Hood County.

Although RBCC serves thousands of families through a variety of services, it is looking to expand even more. The Hood County Commissioner’s Court is helping in that regard.

At its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 12, the court unanimously approved a lease agreement for 4.66 acres of land that will allow RBCC to build a second building at the Sundown Trail location and to create community gardens as well as a place for children to raise chickens and rabbits.

RBCC board president Jan Neal and executive director Sharla Caro worked with Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson on the lease agreement, and Wilson in turn said he consulted with County Attorney Matt Mills “to get the verbiage right.”

After the contract was approved by the Commissioners Court, Wilson handed $99 in cash to the county treasurer, paying the amount owed for the entire length of the lease.

Now, the RBCC board will work to raise money to construct the new building, which will be near a baseball field that Caro calls “the field of dreams.” The building will be used for recreation activities, food distribution and other outreach services.

The RBCC will soon form a building committee and a fundraising committee to carry the initiative to fruition.

The move to expand is happening as the RBCC prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary in June and is a testament to the seed planted by a previous generation.

Said Neal, “We want to set it up for the next generation to just take it and go.”

SEEING THE PROMISE

Caro detests the term “at risk,” and refuses to classify any child as such. Instead, she uses the term “at promise.”

“We’ve never served a client. We serve families in this house,” she said on a recent weekday as she sat inside the Rancho Brazos Community Center where, behind a partition, were emergency pantry and hygiene items.

“This is a second home to hundreds of people,” she continued. “Every person who walks through this door is at promise. There’s hope for every soul that enters Rancho, and our goal is to have them leave in a better situation than the one they arrived in.”

RBCC, once run by volunteers, now has eight employees, of which Caro is one. Each has a license in food handling, but food preparation is mostly done by three women on staff, she said.

Caro used to be a volunteer but became more involved after an EF-4 tornado decimated the Rancho Brazos neighborhood and surrounding area on May 15, 2013, killing six people. Although the Community Center was damaged, it was one of the few structures left standing, as if God was assuring those who lived in the neighborhood that there was hope, and that restoration would come.

“The EF-4 tornado took out 90% of the homes,” Caro said. “Within 12 months, Habitat had everyone back in their homes, setting a national record, and then the following year, continued to build.”

In addition to its after-school program for students who otherwise would be latchkey kids, RBCC offers a monthly drive-through food pantry; a parenting support group; community dinners at which volunteers sit down to eat with families from the community; family game nights with games, snacks and drinks provided; and special events such as a Palm Sunday Egg Hunt.

Gas cards are provided and there is help for other needs as well, such as car repairs.

Caro cited the example of a single mother of five who needed a new radiator. She contributed $40 and 10 hours of labor, and RBCC did the rest.

“She helped clean and prepare for our volunteer luncheon today,” Caro said. “She walked away with her head high. She earned it. And today she’s getting her car repaired.”

RBCC’s free after-school program for grades K-12 is Monday-Friday and so is its summer program, where children are fed breakfast and lunch. Children are taken on field trips, such as to an aquarium, a museum or the zoo. Every Friday, they head to the Y for swimming lessons. According to Caro, statistics show that there is a higher rate of drowning in open water among those who are low income — “and we’re a lake community.”

Caro said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Community Center was forced to remain closed, RBCC, along with teachers in the Granbury ISD, made home visits to make sure that children were fed, that utilities were turned on, and that other needs were being met.

“In 2020, our team put out 50,000 hot boxed meals,” the executive director stated.

RBCC has a website, ranchobrazoscommunitycenters.org, and a Facebook page.

Neal and Caro said that a link will be created on the website where anyone interested in serving on the building or capital fundraising committees can provide contact information, but messages can also be sent to rbccs2019@gmail.com.

Those interested in watering the seed planted by AUMC can donate via Paypal. There is a link on the RBCC’s website.

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