Black parents swinging their daughter in the air in an outdoor setting. A visions have while awarding Central Texas African American Healthy Minds grants.Austin, Texas – The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health is pleased to announce that it has awarded $50,000 for the Central Texas African American Healthy Minds grants. Ten organizations have been chosen for this special opportunity. The goal is to support mental health and wellness among African Americans in the Central Texas area.

The Healthy Minds project was launched in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Central Texas African American Family Support Conference (CTAAFSC), which took place in Austin on February 11-12, 2020. CTAAFSC is an annual convening that explores health solutions, fosters relationships, and works to reduce stigma and increase access to care for the African American community. This year’s conference took place on February 8-9, 2022.

“We recognize the long-term, systemic disparities in mental health outcomes for marginalized communities,” – Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr.

“We recognize the long-term, systemic disparities in mental health outcomes for marginalized communities,” said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. “The Healthy Minds grants are a meaningful way for us to strengthen mental health supports in all the places where BIPOC live, learn, work, play, and pray,”

The 2022 Healthy Minds grantees are:

  • Chisolm Trail Communities Foundation. To partner with Life Anew and the Lone Star (TX) Chapter of The Links, Inc. to educate, create awareness, and provide services to support the mental health of students in the Life Mastery Program at Success High School (SHS); and to provide support and services to students that will bridge the gap between students’ current personal circumstances and their life aspirations.
  • Empowerment Driven by Knowledge Coalition. To create MythBusters, an awareness campaign dedicated to dispelling myths surrounding mental health conditions and building trust through these conversations; and to partner with faith-based organizations to provide education on the importance of mental health and create opportunities within Bible study or worship programs to promote mental health.
  • Goodwill Central Texas. To create a peer support program for African American employees working at the Goodwill Resource Center. Mental health counselors will provide eight on-site sessions for two groups, one for men and one for women, that include therapeutic processing and psychoeducational components and focus on the impact of trauma on mental health.
  • Greater St. John’s Church. To host a series of educational training opportunities for ministry and prevention specialists, and to form support groups that provide an avenue to discuss and build trust around mental health issues within the African American community.
  • Hand to Hold. To provide free, bilingual mental health counseling for African American neonatal intensive care unit families using Hand to Hold’s proprietary licensed counseling program, and to eliminate barriers for a population that is disproportionately affected by COVID-19, premature birth rates, and perinatal mood disorders.
  • NAMI Central Texas. To create four to eight educational videos in partnership with existing Black program participants and volunteers, family members, and faith leaders that discuss the history and impact of mental health in Black communities. NAMI will share the videos with partner organizations that cater to Black communities, on social media, and on the NAMI Central Texas YouTube channel.
  • A New Entry. To provide resources, services, and supports to help with the negative impacts of COVID-19, and the trauma related to racism, injustice, inflation, and lack of resources and advocates. A New Entry will provide Emotional Transformation Therapy, a therapeutic care model that rapidly transforms emotional distress into a positive emotional state, as well as case management.
  • Six Square-Austin’s Black Cultural District. To present ‘Black Minds Matter: Navigating Grief,’ a series of counseling workshops designed to specifically address the trauma Black people are experiencing as a long-term consequence of COVID-19, and to cultivate mental health and well-being for Black Austinites through building strong community bonds and providing specialized tools and resources.
  • Whatsinthemirror? To serve Black queer and trans persons living with HIV by using the arts to promote wellness in sexual health and/or mental health. The Southern Arts Collective will be a space that provides group peer support, one-to-one peer support, creative art projects, and promotes sexual and mental wellness through meaningful involvement with individuals living with HIV.
  • Working Groups 512/212 Catalysts. To support the Maternal Mental Health Project, offering ongoing cycles of holistic support and healing to a focus cohort of Black mothers and primary caregivers between the ages of 16-65, who suffer from compounding traumas due to systemic racial inequalities such as chronic underservice and disinvestment, COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing crises.

“We feel so grateful to support these diverse and impactful projects that focus on enhancing the mental health and well-being of African Americans in Central Texas,” said Vicky Coffee, director of programs for the Hogg Foundation.

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