Advertise on podcast: Into the Fold: Issues in Mental Health

More than eighty years ago, Ima Hogg had a remarkably simple idea. She believed mental health wasn't something that belonged only in hospitals or clinics. It belonged in schools. In neighborhoods. In workplaces. In homes. It belonged wherever people lived their lives. At the time, that was a radical way of thinking. Today, it feels remarkably modern. Throughout this season of Into the Fold, we've explored what it takes to build bridges—to rebuild trust, strengthen partnerships, rethink policy, and test new ideas that make mental health systems more responsive and more equitable. For this season-closing episode we pose some final questions: What have we actually learned? And perhaps even more importantly, what should we do with those lessons? Today we're joined by three leaders who have spent their careers asking those very questions: Dr. Angelique Harris, professor at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University and member of the Hogg Foundation's National Advisory Council; Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation and professor of psychiatry at Dell Medical School; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, C.N.H Long Professor of medicine and public health at the Yale School of Medicine. Related Links Community-Based Solutions: Grassroots Mental Health Innovations That Work The Future of Recovery Leading with Cultural Humility What is Mental Health Becoming?

They're known as "third spaces" - e.g. libraries, parks, community centers, coffee shops, and other hangout spots that are broadly accessible and publicly available. But they’re also something more. In a time when loneliness and disconnection are rising, these spaces may be more essential than ever — not just as amenities, but as part of our mental health infrastructure. In this episode Simone Till, Disability Access Specialist at Galt, and Hannah Terrell, executive director of Austin Public Library, join us to explore how these spaces function not just socially, but psychologically — and what it means to design them intentionally. Related Links Designing for Mental Health Libraries Supporting Community Mental Health City of Sundown: Well-being Connector Transforming Lives at the Border: How a Rural Library in San Elizario is Changing the Game Mental Health and the Musician’s Life Southern Smoke: Mental Health in the Restaurant Industry

In schools across Texas, educators are being asked to support learning while also responding to rising levels of anxiety, trauma, and emotional distress among students. But what if schools weren’t just responding to these challenges, but designing new systems to meet them? In conversation with Beth Hines, principal of Arp Elementary School in East Texas, we explore how educators can become architects of change — building environments where social-emotional well-being is part of the foundation of learning. Related Links Op Ed: Safe and supportive schools for every Texas student COVID-19 and Our Schools Children of Change: Supporting Youth Mental Health in an Uncertain World

This episode closes out 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 what it takes to avoid ‘reform whiplash’ — the cycle where systems lurch forward during crisis, only to stall or regress once public attention shifts. Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who represents District 2, has been deeply involved in shaping policies related to housing stability, public safety, and community well-being — areas where mental health intersects with nearly every decision. She gives her perspective on what it means to govern after a crisis — and how to turn short-term responses into long-term, people-centered systems. Related Links Policy: Telling Your Story Policy: What's in it For Me?

In a special bonus segment, Hogg Foundation policy fellow Maddie Garza, along with returning guest Ayaan Moledina of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), discuss the Lived Experience Storytelling Primer, a toolkit designed to encourage people with lived experience to engage in advocacy while using a trauma-informed lens to take care of themselves and their stories.  Related Links Lived Experience Storytelling: Primer for Advocacy Policy: What's In it For Me? Rising Voices: Telling Your Story Three Things to Know About Meeting with Policymakers

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. In a special bonus segment, Hogg Foundation policy fellow Maddie Garza, along with returning guest Ayaan Moledina of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), discuss the Lived Experience Storytelling Primer, a toolkit designed to encourage people with lived experience to engage in advocacy while using a trauma-informed lens to take care of themselves and their stories.  Related Links Lived Experience Storytelling: Primer for Advocacy 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 Rick Ybarra and Tammy Heinz. Related Links Hogg Funding Opportunities: Libraries Supporting Community Mental Health Arts and Humanities Research Grants for Early Career Faculty Moore Fellowship for Doctoral Research Strengthening the Mental Health of Rural and Rural Border Communities Grassroots Mental Health Innovations That Work Hogg Foundation Well-being in Rural Communities initiative

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 Mendelson 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 Public Schools

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 Robert Lee Sutherland Seminar: Working Together for Rural Well-Being