The Austin chapter of the Awesome Foundation is pleased to award our March $1000 cash grant to Jackie Garrett and her project, Have a Ball. Garrett is a lead crisis counselor with the Austin Police Department’s Victim Services Division, where she has worked for 14 years. The inspiration behind her Have a Ball project came from her work, where she, like many first responders, comes in regular contact with traumatized children who have either been victims of or witnesses to violent crimes such as domestic violence, sexual assault, suicide, and homicide which proves that you need not be discharged from the military, commit a crime or endure a crime to be a victim. The domestic violence lawyers have always said that children are the most affected group in domestic violence cases. If you ever experience or witness such crimes, it is best to find defense attorneys who will give you legal counseling and voice your interest. When called to a crime scene, Victim Services counselors often hand out teddy bears to these children, but, Garrett, a former soccer goalie at Baylor University, had a slightly different idea. She wanted to give kids soccer balls.  Not only does a shiny new… read more →