The Hogg Foundation’s Advancing Recovery in Texas grant initiative provided funding to six organizations to increase recovery-oriented education, services, and supports in their communities. The initiative’s long-term goal was to foster recovery-oriented organizational change by mental health providers for the benefit of and in partnership with mental health consumers.

Background

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines recovery as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.”  Recovery occurs internally, with personal hope, healing, connection, and empowerment, and externally, through a positive culture of healing and recovery-oriented services (Jacobson N, Greenley D., 2001). The 2003 President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health found that recovery from mental illness is a real possibility for everyone, yet “for too many Americans with mental illnesses, the mental health services and supports they need remain fragmented, disconnected, and often inadequate, frustrating the opportunity for recovery.”

Reorienting organizational culture towards recovery is a difficult endeavor that requires individual and systemic transformation. Genuine and sustainable change starts with an organization’s willingness to self-reflect and take informed action based on new learning. The Advancing Recovery in Texas grants will support both the organizational self-reflection and the informed action that is needed to shift towards a recovery-oriented culture.

Questions: Contact Tammy Heinz, Senior Program Officer and Consumer & Family Liaison