Leading Ladies of Brownwood: Jessica Acker

Written by Ben Cox – BrownwoodNews.com would like to offer a “tip of our cap” to a selection of women in town that have make a positive impact on the lives of those around them. Whether by profession, passion or pastime, these women contribute a rich part to the fabric of Brownwood, and we feel they deserve to have their time in the spot light. We present to you, The Leading Ladies of Brownwood.

This week’s leading lady is Jessica Acker. I sat down with Jessica and asked her our list of questions that each Leading Lady will be asked, with a few off the cuff questions specifically for her, and here are her responses.

• What is your current profession/What do you do?

I’m a strategic national stockpile coordinator, and I’m also a TB clerk at the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department.

• Let’s go back to that first what, what is that exactly?

In an instance where let’s say there was a pandemic, if we had a flu outbreak, and it was necessary to get medication out to the whole population, that’s where we would come in. We have actual plans in place for our community where we could open up a point of dispensing system to get that medication out to our population. So that’s what I work with on top of other emergency preparedness plans.

• So your job is basically to think “How do we make things better in the worst possible scenario?”

Correct. And you come up with a scenario and then you exercise it annually.

• So all those things that we hear about with Brownwood working through a certain type of scenario, does that come through your office?

Sometimes it does, but a lot of other organizations like the Sheriff’s Office and Police Department have their own plans, but we do work with them on some of those. 

• What clubs or organizations are you a member of locally?

Pecan Valley Republican Women, and I have previously served on the Salvation Army Board, but I don’t currently serve there.

• Where were you born?

Fort Worth

• Where did you grow up?

Southern California on Tustin Base. My Dad was a Marine, he’s retired.

• When did you make it to Texas?

I actually moved in the middle of my senior year. My Dad had a heart attack that forced him to retire from the Marines. And so it was in ’98 in the middle of my senior year.

• Are your parents still around?

My mom passed away two years ago, during the last campaign season while I was running for commissioner.

• What are some of your fondest memories of childhood?

I loved spending summers with my grandparents when they lived in Yuma Arizona. They currently reside in Callahan Colorado.

• Who left a lasting impression upon you that still is with you today?

I guess, for me there’s two instances. There’s God, who taught me when I was young that I could be pleasing, because I didn’t think I could be. I didn’t think that I could make anybody happy. And so when I came to know Him and came to that point of salvation it was because He had laid it upon my heart that I could be pleasing to Him and do well in His sight. And the next person would be, I had a coach, she was just a regular PE coach, she didn’t teach any of the sports directly. But she told me that I tried really hard and I should try for a team. I never thought I was ever good enough to be on a team but it was because of her that I played field hockey and things like that.

• What do you hope your legacy will be?

My Kids. That’s what I do it all for. Even running for public office, it’s because I want jobs and I want a future for them. It really comes down to fighting for what’s best for them. I want to be an advocate for those who don’t have a voice. That starts by being an advocate for your kids. We have our biological kids and it branched out to our adopted children, being able to advocate for them whether its through a Casa Worker in a courtroom or at school, its just fighting for their future.

• It is still just the seven kids, right? You haven’t tried to go for the full football team yet?

My daughter says were can work on more when she moves out! (laughs)

• What is one lesson that you would like your to kids to take with them into adulthood?

That we’re all equally important. I see people struggle, they work so hard to be important because they don’t know they already are.

• How has living in Brownwood shaped your life?

Wow. When we moved here in 2008 it was to plant a church with Missionary Baptist Association of Texas. We saw this little girl at the housing authority I think she was about third grade, and I asked her where she was going to school next year. And she said she didn’t know because CPS was coming to pick her up again. It was in that moment where we saw the need in the community, and that need has always been there. I would literally cry every Wednesday night knowing the homes we were taking some of these kids back to. Knowing the loss of parents, that there had been drug use. And you get the answer from CPS that they’re over six years old and they’re call 9-11 and take care of themselves. And because they’re over burdened and can’t step up to the plate every time something horrible is happening, that is what prompted us to move to adoption.  We realized if you don’t get them in your home, if you’re not willing to actually sacrifice your life for theirs, and let… Cause it’s all consuming being a parent. And then when you’re taking in a child who’s broken, it really steps up that game. It is very all consuming. And we realized that without being willing to lay down our lives for somebody else and take them in their lives would never change. And the problem that we kept running into week after week was never gonna go away.

• If you could speak to yourself as a High School freshman, what would you say to yourself?

Oh my gosh!… Wow, that is so hard because you don’t know how you’d respond. There’s been rough things that have happened, but I’m so grateful for where I’m at that even though I’ve made bad choices and haven’t always done the perfect thing, I guess I would tell myself to stick to the basic of “if you please God you’ll be pleasing to him,” you’re gonna screw up sometimes but you’re gonna make it. No regrets, just keep going forward and you’ll be amazed how beautiful it is.

• What is one goal for yourself/family that you haven’t achieved yet?

World peace? Just kidding! I think Leland and I have worked so hard to make sure our kids move forward and better themselves that we have neglected that on our own behalf, so I am really proud of him for continuing to pursue his education and that might be something I open myself up to later. But, it’s really all about them and watching them be successful and setting that example of hard work and such too.

• How do you feel you have impacted Brownwood?

I guess that depends on who you ask! (laughs) I was really surprised when I got that message from you because I don’t see myself as someone who has really impacted, I don’t see myself as being any different than the next person. I do speak up, and I guess that makes me different. I do realize that we all have a voice, and I’m pretty willing to use mine for better or worse. So I can’t say whether or not my impact has been positive, but I want it to be positive, I want people to realize that they each have a voice, and that they each have the ability to be engaged. That’s what I want my impact to be, that they can stand up and they can speak out for themselves and they can look around themselves and see how the educational system, how the government, how all these things tie in and that we all have a responsibility for how things go. Just to be awake and be alert to that.

• What is one thing you’d like to see for the future of Brownwood?

If I had a couple of goals for our community they would be to see more of our children lifted out of poverty, I wanna see more people realize that they are important and that they can step up into the game, that they don’t have to give up. So I would like to see a community that celebrates recovery in all aspects of life and encourages people to get engaged and be involved. Where nobody feels threatened by that involvement, but that we just continuously encourage each other to be part of the bigger picture and part of the community.

• What makes you proud to live in Brownwood?

I think that it really is a community that wants to move forward, that it genuinely  cares. When you look at the Parks and Rec, when you look at the infrastructure that they put in in order too give families time to play together I think that’s huge. I think that speaks volumes of the heart of the community. When you see people getting engaged politically or with their churches, people are noticing that their voice makes a difference. So I am proud that that is rolling out even more. I just think that we do have a wonderful community here that does want to be to that point where people can pull up and lift up.

• What does it mean to you to be considered one of the “Leading Ladies of Brownwood?”

I don’t think I fully have comprehended that. (laughs) I don’t because I see myself as stepping up and having a voice and surprising people by some of the things I do, but I guess I don’t yet recognize myself as that.