If I’m not winning, I’m learning.

- Reggie Barnes Founder & CEO The Winners Circle Group Of Texas

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE DIFFICULTIES YOU HAVE FACED THAT MAY HAVE CAUSED DOUBTS AND REQUIRED YOU TO REASSESS YOUR APPROACH?

We have not encountered any challenges that would lead us to doubt our passion for helping young people or the need for mental health services. However, some of the challenges we have faced include foster parents who are hesitant to fully embrace our program, case managers or organizations that are consumed by their day-to-day responsibilities and only send referrals when a crisis occurs, and overall skepticism towards mental health practices. Some foster homes perceive our presence as burdensome, considering the multiple entities already involved in their lives. However, we have been able to overcome this by explaining our purpose and emphasizing our support for their households. Another challenge stems from the overwhelming number of children in foster care, leading to overloaded case managers and agencies with high turnover rates. As a result, there may be a lack of follow-through in sending referrals and initiating services for the youth. Mental health is a crucial aspect of our organization’s advocacy.

Montgomery says working with the company has helped change his level of empathy, “I’ve always been passionate about helping people. I think that one thing that has changed about me is not being so quick to judge. I try not to judge people anyway because the Bible says not to judge people. But I think sometimes we inherently do judge people based on maybe what they look like and experiences they went through,” he said.

WHAT DO YOU WANT THE AUDIENCE TO KNOW ABOUT THE WINNERS CIRCLE, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, AND WHY IS IT A GREAT PLACE TO SEEK HELP AND ASSISTANCE?

For the clients that come into our care, we provide individual service plans, so we work on every kid as an individual. It’s not a group, it’s not any of that. We don’t use the same method in any given situation because everybody has different things that they need to work on. We have baselines in which we do that, but through our individual service plans, we can meet the need of any diagnosis that a child has. So, from the client side, I want the audience to know that.

IF YOU COULD PICK A QUOTE THAT DESCRIBES THE WCGT, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

I think the connotation speaks for itself. But if I wanted to say a quote, there’s no losing. Reggie always says, if I’m not winning, I’m learning. So that’s really what we kind of base the company off of because anything that goes wrong is a learning experience, any sort of problem, so there are no losses. They’re just learning experiences. I think by having that mindset and just being more solution-based, we can solve problems as opposed to just soaking in the negative.

The company’s focus on mental health and fostering youth and young adults doesn’t stop there. With a recent conference under their belt, Montgomery detailed the event saying, “We had consistent fixtures of male role models.” As for young ladies, sex trafficking and domestic abuse are just a few of the cases the company takes on in addition to children (young adults) being removed from their homes.

“I’m very mindful to be empathetic towards their circumstance because it had to be a reason that they got into foster care. They had to be removed from their homes because of something bad that happened,” he said. “Something that the state deemed they needed to investigate, and it was bad enough for them to go into foster care. I’m very mindful of kids’ previous experiences, more so than I ever was because you just never know what a kid has been through.”

WCGT is dedicated to delivering excellent service and is committed to supporting individuals and families seeking stability and nourishment.

The company currently operates in four Texas citiesHouston, Midland, Duncanville, and Tyler - with plans for expansion. For further details on their efforts to assist those in need, please visit: www.WinnersCircleGroupOfTexas.com.