San Marcos organization offers a helping hand

Anahi Monrreal followed her parents across the U.S.-Mexico border more than 30 years ago. On this side of the Rio Grande she met her husband, started a family and, with help from a San Marcos ministry, attained her U.S. citizenship in 2013.

Monrreal's family settled in El Paso when she was 6 years old, and she got married when she was 17. The pair moved to Central Texas in 1998. Monrreal continued to care for her family, but as her children got older and she had more time for herself, her thoughts drifted to a professional career. If she was going to make that dream a reality, she would need to get her green card.

"I didn't really work outside the home, so I just never saw a need for me to have a green card until I came to Austin," Monrreal said.

Monrreal knew Hands of Hope, a program founded in San Marcos in 2004, provided job training, so she decided to enroll in the program in 2010. It was after one of the sessions that Monrreal asked Nova Festervan and Charlotte Evans, two volunteers at Hands of Hope, if they knew anyone who could help her.

"They really encouraged me to do it, and they guided me through on finding who could help me," Monrreal said.

Monrreal and her husband met with an immigration attorney and were able to secure her green card in 2010.

Monrreal completed a nursing assistant class and began working for Legend Oaks Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Kyle in 2011. She was promoted at the start of 2013 to transportation director.

"With God's help I'm moving a little bit up," she said.

The organization's stated mission is to provide women with life and job skills training, but Monrreal's case is just one example of how broad that endeavor really is.

"This ministry is all about women helping women," Festervan said. "We target under-educated, disadvantaged women to move them toward self-sufficiency."

In Monrreal's case, that involved helping a 20-year resident of the United States get a green card and citizenship. In the past, the program's volunteers have helped women find permanent residences, get much-needed dental surgery, find jobs and secure permanent residences, Festervan said.

The program is similar to other job skills programs in that it offers classes that include language arts, math, health, computer skills and more, but Evans said what sets Hands of Hope apart is that students are also provided with a mentor, and each day begins with Bible study.

Festervan said the program, which is a partnership of seven churches and multiple individuals from San Marcos and throughout the state, is open to people of all faiths.

"[The students] get into a lot of issues about dealing with anger, dealing with things that have happened in their past, how you give forgiveness, how you move on, and they deal with a whole lot of life issues, but the bottom line is it's based on the Bible," she said.

So far the program has graduated 60 women, and in 2014 Hands of Hope will celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Festervan and Evans agree the program's curriculum only takes the women so far, but Hands of Hope shows women love—sometimes for the first time, Evans said.

"We encourage them," Evans said. "We tell them they're beautiful, and we tell them they're smart."

Tea 'N More Hands of Hope is a San Marcos organization that provides job and life skills training to women in Hays County.

Through a network of partnerships within the community and a volunteer staff, the organization is able to provide classes, lunch and childcare free of charge. Despite the organization's low overhead, there are expenses, such as the complimentary transportation to and from classes each day. To fund these services, Hands of Hope began Tea 'N More, an annual fundraiser featuring tea, snacks and a fashion show, in 2005.

Nova Festervan, one of the program coordinators, said the group raised about $200 in 2005. In 2013, the event raised nearly $5,000. The next Tea 'N More will be held in April.

"Since we've started, we haven't had to worry about the money," Festervan said. "The money has come in."