Here’s a snapshot of the presentations made, events hosted, and honors received by the talented and dedicated staff of the Hogg Foundation during the month of April 2025.
Alison Mohr Boleware, Hogg Foundation director of policy, was honored as Alumni of the Year at the Texas Social Work Alumni Network’s annual awards ceremony in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the social work profession.
In preparation for the National Alliance on Mental Illness – Texas (NAMI-Texas)’s Texas Mental Health Capitol Day, Alison also participated on a panel with Representative Mihaela Plesa and Former Representative Four Price to teach effective legislative office visit skills to individuals with lived experience of mental health, their family members, and interested citizens.
Maddie Garza, policy fellow, represented the Hogg Foundation on the Mental Health Advocacy Panel at the National Association of Social Workers – Texas Chapter (NASW-TX)’s Social Work Advocacy Day 2025. This year’s theme, “Serving All Texans: Unity Through Social Action,” reflected NASW-TX’s mission to unite social workers in driving positive, transformative change through collective action, ensuring that all Texans have access to the support and resources they need.
The Hogg Policy Team, including Alison, Maddie, and Jason Castillo, policy specialist, led a Policy 101 training for staff of Bastrop County Cares, a grantee partner in the Hogg Foundation’s Collaborative Approaches to Well-Being in Rural Communities initiative. Bastrop County Cares works to foster a strong social fabric, provide access to quality educational programs, promote economic stability, and support healthy, fulfilling lives within the Bastrop community.
Cassius Kelly, foundation research assistant and graduate student in the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information, in collaboration with Elizabeth Stauber, archivist and records manager, completed a landscape analysis entitled, State School and Hospital Preservation: A Survey of the Field. Accompanied by an interactive map of historical state hospitals and schools from around the country, their research examines how restricted access to historic mental health records creates immense barriers for genealogists, researchers, preservationists, and the public.