Into The Fold: Issues In Mental Health

This episode is the second of the Policy arc of our season, an arc focused on how systems change happens, and how mental health policy is shaped not just by moments of urgency, but by sustained leadership. Today’s conversation looks at how lived experience becomes a catalyst for advocacy. We’ll explore how young people — and really, anyone — can use their personal story to shape systems, influence policy, and make their communities stronger. Our guests are Aurora Harris and Kasey Corpus of Young Invincibles, a national organization that amplifies young voices to influence policy on health, higher education, and economic opportunity. Through their deep understanding of the power of storytelling, they help young people turn experience into impact. Related Links Policy: What's In it For Me? Rising Voices: Telling Your Story Three Things to Know About Meeting with Policymakers

When most people hear the word "policy", they think of lawmakers, bills, or political debates — not necessarily something that affects their day-to-day life. But policy is everywhere. It shapes the jobs we can get, the healthcare we can afford, and the communities we call home. And for young people, understanding and influencing policy isn’t just about civic engagement — it’s about shaping the future they’ll inherit. Our guests for today are Cameron Samuels, co-founder and executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, (SEAT), an organization dedicated to increasing youth visibility in policymaking, and Ayaan Moledina, SEAT's federal policy director. These two leaders share their insights on how to help young Texans turn awareness into action, and frustration into advocacy.  Related Links Children of Change: Supporting Youth Mental Health in an Uncertain World Public Policy for Building a Resilient Future Some More Good News in Public Policy Some Good News in Public Policy

In rural communities, distance shapes everything - e.g. distance to the nearest hospital; distance to a licensed counselor; or distance to broadband access. When it comes to mental health care, those distances can become barriers.But what if distance didn’t mean disconnection? What if partnerships could stretch across counties and communities — aligning resources so that rural Texans don’t have to navigate care alone?” Recently, the Hogg Foundation launched its Strengthening Mental Health in Rural and Rural Border Texas Communities initiative designed to strengthen access to care in rural Texas communities. Two of the grantee sites were co-funded in partnership with the Amarillo Area Foundation and the Bivens Foundation — organizations deeply rooted in the Texas Panhandle. Joining us for a conversation about this initiative and what it means for the rural Panhandle are Lara Escobar of the Amarillo Area Foundation and Kathryn Wiegand of the Bivens Foundation, along with Hogg Foundation senior program officers

When someone leaves a state hospital and returns to their community, recovery doesn’t pause — it becomes more complicated. Housing, connection, medication, transportation, stigma, isolation — the real work of healing often begins outside the hospital walls. In this episode, we explore the question: What if discharge isn’t an endpoint — but a handoff? What if care doesn’t end at the hospital door, but expands into a community network designed to sustain recovery? Colleen Gallion of NAMI Central Texas and Stacy Mendelsohn of Friends of Austin State Hospital discuss how their organizations' partnership is building a bridge between inpatient care and community life. Related Links Austin State Hospital: The First Step in Building a Continuum of Care Dialogues on Mental Health Records From Struggle to Strength: Exploring Journeys to Recovery Designing for Mental Health 

For generations, churches have been more than places of worship. They’ve been gathering spaces, support systems, sources of strength in moments of uncertainty and crisis. In African American communities especially, faith institutions have long been trusted partners in health and healing, often filling gaps where systems fall short. Today's episode explores what becomes possible when that trust is paired with intentional partnership across faith, community, and mental health systems. Our guest is Pastor Rev. Dr. Daryl Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin, Texas. Related Links: The Caregivers Perspective: Coping with the Loss of Mental Health and Faith Reflections from Grantees of the African American Faith-Based Initiative

On a summer morning in July 2025, floodwaters swept through Burnet and Llano counties in Central Texas, turning quiet roads into rivers. Homes were lost. Families displaced. Older adults had to be rescued from a HUD apartment complex. An RV park was destroyed. Over the chaotic weeks that followed, Community Resource Centers of Texas, working with the Texas Housing Foundation, mobilized to help people find more stable housing, rebuild connections, and restore a sense of hope. Our guest for this episode is Dawn Capra of Community Resource Centers of Texas, an organization that provides essential services and disaster relief in rural Central Texas communities. Though Dawn may not use the phrase mutual aid to describe her work, the organization’s story perfectly captures the spirit of community solidarity that mutual aid represents. Related Links: Climate Anxiety and Young People Southern Smoke: Mental Health in the Restaurant Industry Relieving Holiday Stress and Hurricane Trauma

All across Texas, people are showing that you don’t have to wait for change from the top down — you can build it from the ground up. And when local efforts succeed, they don’t just transform a workplace, a neighborhood, a classroom — they offer a template for reimagining the system itself. In this episode Larissa Minner, an expert on disability research and universal design, joins us for an exploration of how small-scale changes to everyday practice can catalyze deeper change not only to lives, but to systems. Related Links: Designing for Mental Health Shared Inquiry: A Better Way to Learn Community-Based Participatory Research

Every system of care — whether it’s education, health, or justice — is built on trust. Trust that when we reach out for help, we’ll be treated with respect and fairness. But for too many Texans, that hasn’t always been the case. People with disabilities and those living in poverty have too often been left out or let down by systems that were meant to support them. Just as obviously, there are people working to change that — to repair relationships, rebuild credibility, and make care systems worthy of the people they serve. Andrew Hairston, Education Justice Director at Texas Appleseed, and Yulissa Chavez, Public Policy Specialist Fellow with the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, join us to take a hard look at what it means to confront inadequacies and repair harm within the very systems designed to help us. Related Links: Building Access with Intention: Reflecting on National Disability Employment Awareness Month Public Policy for Building a Resilient Future Mind of Texas: Mental Health in Texas Pub

Today’s episode was recorded as part of the Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar, an event the Hogg Foundation hosts every two years to explore urgent issues in mental health and well-being. This year’s seminar included a screening of Humanly Possible, a new documentary produced with support from the Hogg Foundation. The film shares deeply personal stories of substance use recovery. In this episode, we go behind the scenes of the film and talk about why recovery stories matter—for individuals, for families, and for the systems that shape our communities. Our two guests are Jason Howell, CEO of RecoveryPeople, and John McIver, editor of Humanly Possible.  Related Links: From Struggle to Strength: Exploring Journeys to Recovery Rhythms of Resilience: An Early Look at the Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar    

Since 1978, The Hogg Foundation’s biennial Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar (RLS) has been held to increase awareness about mental health concepts such as recovery, integrated health, and barriers to well-being. This year’s event offers a chance for Texans to promote innovation and collaboration among mental health care providers, advocates, consumers, and their families. Taking place September 8 & 9, in San Antonio, it will feature a keynote experience unlike any other—a powerful blend of rhythm, connection, and healing led by Grammy Award–winning percussionist Nina Rodriguez.  The theme for RLS 2025, Growing Together: Building Capacity for Collective Wellness, invites participants to explore what it truly means to build capacity through connecting. Joining Nina in conversation on the Into the Fold podcast is Dr. Kelley Glover, postdoctoral research fellow at the Hogg Foundation and a lifelong music educator.  Related Links: Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar 2025 Mental Health and the Musician's Life 2019 Robe

When it comes to supporting rural communities, especially around mental health, success often starts not with answers, but with questions—and a deep commitment to listening. In our latest episode of Into the Fold, host Ike Evans speaks with Tammy Heinz, senior program officer and consumer and family liaison at the Hogg Foundation, Rick Ybarra, senior program officer at the Hogg Foundation, Brian Dabson, rural policy analyst and researcher, and Allen Smart, advisor to philanthropy and nonprofits and Hogg Foundation National Advisory Council member. Together, they reflect on years of work in rural communities across Texas and beyond, revealing key lessons for philanthropic funders who want to make a meaningful, sustainable difference. Related Links: Strengthening the Mental Health of Rural and Rural Border Communities Transforming Community Through Collaboration Hogg Foundation to Award $3.75 Million in Grants to Strengthen the Mental Health of Rural and Rural Border Communities Funding Mental Health: Inovat

In this timely and heartfelt episode of Into the Fold, co-hosts Vicky Coffee and Ike Evans sit down with Shawn Kent, therapist and director at the Amala Foundation, to explore the mental health challenges—and sources of resilience—facing youth in today’s rapidly shifting world. Together, they unpack the pressures of social media, family stress, school systems, and the profound need for belonging and connection. Shawn offers insights drawn from his work with youth, especially young men, and shares how programs like peer mentorship, creative expression, and third spaces can foster healing and growth.  This conversation is a call to rethink how we design environments—at home, in school, and across society—to better support youth and families. Whether you're a parent, educator, or community member, you’ll come away with ideas and inspiration for helping the next generation thrive. Related Links:  Amala Foundation Into the Fold: Digital Well-being for Youth

Today’s conversation is about the promises—and the pitfalls—of technology. Specifically, we’re exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping mental health care and what it means for equity, access, and privacy. While AI has the potential to increase access to mental health tools and improve outcomes, it also raises urgent ethical questions: Who is being left out? Who has control over their data? And how do we ensure that innovation doesn’t deepen existing disparities? To help us make sense of it all, we're joined by Kenneth Fleischmann, professor at the UT Austin School of Information, where he studies the ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies. Related Links: Ethical AI Good Systems University of Texas at Austin Undergraduate Informatics Program University of Texas at Austin Master of Science in A.I.  Into the Fold: Digital Well-being for Youth

In this episode, we’re diving into a topic that’s both essential and often behind the scenes—funding. Who funds mental health work? How do organizations access support for the critical services they provide? And what does innovation in mental health funding look like? This conversation takes us into the heart of collaboration, innovation, and opportunity—through the lens of the Hogg Foundation’s reunion with the Texas Grants Resource Center. We explore how partnerships like these can unlock new possibilities for community-driven mental health work in Texas. Joining the show are Amy Loar, assistant director of programs at the Hogg Foundation and program administrator of the Texas Grants Resource Center; Giannina Cardenas, grants and contracts strategist at Caritas of Austin; where they take a whole-person approach to ending homelessness; and Lori Najvar, director of PolkaWorks, an Austin nonprofit focused on elevating the untold stories of Texas communities through multimedia storytelling. Related Content: Ep

March is National Social Work Month, and here at the Hogg Foundation, we see firsthand the major role social workers play in the upkeep of mental health. We are joined today by Catherine Wilsnack, a doctoral candidate in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Catherine earned her B.S. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.S.W. from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Prior to pursuing social work, she worked as a mental health clinician. She discusses the unique perspective that social workers have on mental health and the collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners at the heart of the field.  Related Links:  Social Work in a Time of Division Children in 2021: Grief and Loss Understanding Mental Health in Older Adults  

Love is a profound and multifaceted concept that has fascinated people for centuries. But do we really understand it? This question is at the center of our most recent episode of Into the Fold, which features an archived recording of the Hogg Foundation radio show, The Human Condition, with commentary by present day staff members, Mary Capps, Elizabeth Stauber, and Darrell Wiggins.  Produced and hosted by former Hogg Foundation program officer, Bert Kruger Smith, The Human Condition aired from 1971 to 1983. This episode featured Dr. Leo Buscaglia, professor, motivational speaker, and bestselling author of several books focusing on love and human relationships.    Related Links The Loneliness Epidemic

This is Part 2 of the conversation we began with last month's Episode 169, Navigating Systemic Shifts: Policy Changes That Impact Mental Health Care. We want to know, from those doing the work, what feels different about doing mental health policy in 2025. For this episode, we bring back our guests Mandi Zapata of Texas Civil Rights Project, Noah Smith of Texas Counseling Association, and Maia Volk of Disability Rights Texas. This time we’re focusing more on the personal stakes of doing policy work in a challenging environment.  In a bonus segment, we revisit a conversation from 2023, about Girls Empowerment Network and what their experience has to teach us about the future of public policy. Episode 169 - Navigating Systemic Shifts: Policy Changes That Impact Mental Health Care Related links: https://hogg.utexas.edu/texas-mental-health-guide https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-purpose-of-policy-work-in-a-divisive-time https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-future-of-recovery https://hogg.utexas.edu/2-million-awarded-to-train-m

We are coming to you from Austin, Texas, site of the Texas Legislature an epicenter of the changes that are impacting people, as well as concerted efforts to address those changes. We thought it would be fitting to kick off this new season of Into the Fold with a look into the bustling world of public policy – and how policy changes impact mental health. For this conversation we are joined by Mandi Zapata of Texas Civil Rights Project, Noah Jones of Texas Counseling Association, and Maia Volk of Disability Rights Texas. They are all Hogg Policy Fellows, employed by organizations that have received Policy Fellows grants from the Hogg. They came to our studio for a conversation on how their mental health experiences both shape, and are shaped by, their work in the policy arena.    Related Links: https://hogg.utexas.edu/texas-mental-health-guide https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-purpose-of-policy-work-in-a-divisive-time https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-future-of-recovery https://hogg.utexas.edu/2-million-awarded-to-train-

The holidays can be a time of joy, but for many, they bring unique challenges, such as loneliness, financial stress, or grief. Today, we’re focusing on ways to provide meaningful support to individuals during the holiday season. We are joined today by Jen Cardenas, executive director of Austin Clubhouse, an organization dedicated to building a community that supports adults living with mental health diagnoses. Accompanying her is Kasey Pfaff, an Austin Clubhouse member. They discuss the Clubhouse's unique communal ethos and how it can be a balm during the holiday season.    Related Links: Exploring Gratitude A Peer Perspective on Health and the Holidays Relieving Holiday Stress and Hurricane Trauma

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the unique stresses and rewards of policy work, even or especially during an election year as divisive as this one has been. With the help of Alison Mohr Boleware, policy director for the Hogg Foundation, and Lyssette Galvan, policy director for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas, we'll discuss strategies for maintaining resilience and the deeper purpose behind policy work, even in challenging times.   Also check out: Political Climate as a Chronic Stressor A Reality Check Session Update from the Hogg Policy Team Social Work in a Time of Division Some Good News in Public Policy Some More Good News in Public Policy Social Work in a Time of Division Protecting Kids’ Mental Health in a Time of Polarization