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When we think about policy change, we often think about experts, statistics, and long hours at the Capitol. But some of the most powerful tools for change aren’t data points, they’re stories. 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.

In this podcast episode, we’re talking with two leaders who help Texas students turn awareness into action and frustration into advocacy.

In today’s episode, we look at how partnerships can stretch across counties and communities to align resources and ensure that rural Texans don’t have to navigate care alone.

When someone leaves a state hospital and returns to their community, recovery doesn’t pause — it often becomes more complicated. Housing, connection, medication, transportation, stigma, isolation — the real work of healing often begins outside the hospital walls. 

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 the Reverend Dr. Daryl Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin. 

In this episode of Into the Fold, we speak with Dawn Capra, Director of Housing Advocacy at the Texas Housing Foundation. She describes how well-coordinated and respectful cooperation between community organizations supported both the logistical needs and emotional well-being of displaced residents.

In this episode of the podcast, Larissa Minner, a researcher at the Texas Center for Disability Studies at the University of Texas School of Social Work and director of the Weaving Inclusion Together in research Hub (WITH), joins us for an exploration of how small-scale changes to everyday practice can catalyze deeper change not only to lives, but to systems.

Trust is the foundation of every system that is supposed to support us—schools, hospitals, mental health services, and even the justice system. But for many communities, that trust has been broken again and again. 

This year’s RLS seminar will feature a keynote experience unlike any other—a powerful blend of rhythm, connection, and healing led by Grammy Award–winning percussionist Nina Rodriguez. 

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.