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WEST POINT — Long-time  Chambers County Department of Human Resources (DHR) Director Julia Ann Hyde recently talked about what her department does at the weekly meeting of the West Point Rotary Club. Chambers County DHR runs a child support program that annually collects more than $4 million and makes sure it benefits children. They also manage a food support program that helps more than 5,000 people.

Hyde said that one of her favorite programs was an adult services program. “We regularly check on adults in the county to see if they are okay,” she said. “We make sure they are safe and protected. My heart is with the children we have in foster care. We have 48 of them in 20 homes in Chambers County. That’s pretty good for a county our size.”

Some children from dysfunctional homes are placed with relatives. “We train them to do what’s good for the children,” Hyde said.

A new district court judge will be working with the DHR program. Terrence Brown is succeeding Calvin Milford, who has retired. “He’s well liked in the local area,” Hyde said. “His mother has been a foster mom for a long time.”

The overall goal for Chambers County DHR is to keep families together and united. The biggest single problem interfering with this is illegal drugs. Fentanyl in particular is a problem for the current time.

There have been times when children approached DHR with problems the family was having. “We will work with that family to get them on the right track,” Hyde said. “Sometimes we work through drug court.”

Hyde spoke of a situation when a Chambers County child was born last February with only half of a heart. “We went to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham to see she got the best of care,” she said. “She’s now a beautiful baby and it’s hard to believe, given what she has gone through. Children’s Hospital is a special place. They do such good work. They did what needed to be done to save that child’s life.”

The baby got a new heart in May. “A heart transplant went beautifully,” Hyde said. “It was so satisfying, but she will need help for the rest of her life. Some situations don’t go so well, but that one has so far.”

Because of what they do on a day-to-day basis, DHR personnel become acquainted with family situations most county residents are unaware of. “It’s amazing how many families in this county have seven children,” Hyde said.

There are autistic children who need help, children who have behavioral problems who need help and families that get torn apart due to substance abuse.

“There are many sad situations you come across,” Hyde said, “but we try to keep families whole. Some situations work out well and some don’t. We have about 20 people in our drug court system right now.”

“I just want to tell you that that little girl got a heart because you have one,” Dr. Joe Downs, the program chairman for the day, told her. “When I was in practice and came across a troubling situation involving a Chambers County family I didn’t call ghostbusters, I called Julia Ann.”