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Editor's Note: Today's presentation on philanthropy in Midland is the final of a three-day series.
By Colin Guy
Staff Writer
The old axiom, "bigger is not always better," is just as true for charitable organizations as it is for anything else. While large charities and foundations play an invaluable role in the lives of hundreds of Midlanders; smaller, often overlooked charities are changing lives one at a time.
About five years ago Kathryn Shelley moved from Austin to Midland to help support her father, whose ability to communicate was severely limited after suffering a stroke. The stroke damaged part of his brain used for communication and inhibited his ability to speak, read and write, a condition known as aphasia.
Shelley's experiences with her father encouraged her to establish the West Texas Aphasia Center, a non-profit organization which provides support to victims of aphasia and their families. The organization's mission is to provide a community for victims of aphasia that can help them overcome the boredom and social isolation an inability to communicate effectively often leads to.
"Typically aphasia comes from a stroke or head injury, patients go through the hospital, to rehab then home with assisted living," Shelley said. "Because they can't talk, they can lose their career, often can't drive and social circles become very awkward and limited. Here, when rehab ends, that's where our program begins and our goals are different than in rehab."
While rehab focuses on helping patients regain the ability to walk again or speak again, the West Texas Aphasia Center staff help victims get back to living their lives.
"Everything we do is 'aphasia friendly,'" Shelley said. "Instead of just talking, we have visuals, and pen and paper handy. They can draw what they're trying to communicate. It's what each of us would do if we landed in a foreign country and didn't speak the language."
The program consists of two components, Shelley said. A 10-week introductory course provides aphasia victims and their families more information about the condition and provides techniques to improve communication. After that, members participate in community classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
They spend their mornings drinking coffee, reading the newspaper and conversing with one another. During the day activities include table games, musical sessions -- Shelley said it is often easier for some of the clients to sing than speak -- and an audio book club. A recently purchased computer lab also is available for clients, which features software designed specifically for people with aphasia.
Five staff members, including speech pathologists, and six volunteers keep the West Texas Aphasia Center operating. The organization received its seed funding from the Scharbauer-Lineberry Foundation but has since taken measures to generate its own revenue.
While the West Texas Aphasia Center aims to help develop a supporting community for victims of aphasia, other recently-established charities in Midland are focused on showing veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan there is an existing community eager to support them.
In 2004, Midlander Terry Johnson decided he wanted to express his gratitude to the nation's war veterans, many of whom were injured while performing their service for the country. An avid hunter, Johnson elected to demonstrate his support by offering to take veterans on a hunting trip through the woods of West Texas.
The first year of "Show of Support Military Hunt," Johnson worked with Gen. Bob Hollingsworth to find two young soldiers who had an interest in hunting. Hollingsworth helped identify two candidates who had been injured and were receiving treatment at Brooks Memorial Hospital in San Antonio. Johnson paid for the soldiers to fly to West Texas, fed them and led them through the woods outside of San Angelo where they stalked and killed two bucks.
The event received coverage from the Texas Trophy Hunters Association, and word spread about what Johnson was doing. In the fall of 2005, support for the program developed, and Johnson was able to invite the two soldiers from the first hunt along with 10 other veterans to join him on a series of weekend excursions.
Johnson spent the better part of a year scheduling the weekend hunting trips and organizing a banquet to honor the participants. The soldiers and their wives arrived in Midland in December and were fed barbecue and informed how much their sacrifices are truly appreciated. Additionally, Johnson's organization was able to secure enough support from the community to purchase a high-quality rifle for each of the soldiers. Next year, he said, he expects the event will be even larger.
"It's going to be a whole lot bigger this year," Johnson said. "We had a lot of people come to the banquet that didn't know what it was about, but now that they've seen it, we've got a lot more community support. Last year we took 12 soldiers hunting, this year that number will increase by quite a bit."
Johnson said he is planning to hold the banquet at the Horseshoe this year, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 16, and he expects there probably will be as many as 1,500 people purchasing seats at the event.
Like Johnson, Johnie Lee Qualls also decided to devote copious amounts of time toward expressing his appreciation to veterans. Qualls served in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and was appalled by the reaction many veterans of that war received when they returned home.
After retiring from the insurance business in 2004, Qualls resolved to dedicate his time to showing the next generation of war veterans that most of the country appreciates what they have done. He founded "Soldiers of Today and Yesterday" with wife Gladys to achieve this goal.
"When I came back from 'Nam I was spit on and mistreated," Qualls said. "I made myself a promise that if we go to war again, I don't want our troops to come back like we came back."
Qualls created a Web site that serves as a portal to military news sources and information about benefits and programs available to soldiers. The site also features a forum for soldiers in the field to visit with their families and friends, share stories about military life with one another and post poetry, pictures or "anything else they desire."
He also established an Internet radio station that broadcasts everything from pop favorites to classic country. Because the programming is carried over the Internet, Qualls said, the content is available to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Qualls' organization also is involved in acquiring funds to provide scholarships for the children of veterans. In April, "Soldiers of Today and Yesterday" will hold its first major fundraiser, "Operation Support Our Troops." The event will be held April 21 at the Ector County Coliseum and will feature musical performances by Darryl Worley and Grammy Award Winner Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives.
"The money we raise is for the George H. O'Brien Scholarship Fund," Gladys said. "He's a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who died last year, he was a Midland resident. We wanted to do more than just (honor) the troops, we wanted to have a scholarship fund for the children of our troops who served the country."
During the reception, Gladys said, six of O'Brien's friends, who also were recipients of the nation's highest award for military service, will be honored. Another ceremony will pay tribute to the nation's Prisoners of War and those who are Missing in Action. He said representatives from the Department of Defense, the House of Representatives' Veterans Affairs Committee and the Texas Veterans Commission all will be in attendance, along with many members of the military and their families.
What Are We Fighting For? 
