AUSTIN, Texas — The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health recently announced that it has awarded more than $1 million in grants to 10 nonprofit advocacy groups to expand mental health advocacy across the state.
The Austin-based foundation awarded a total of $1.4 million to groups so they can hire in-house policy fellows, the foundation said. The fellows will receive intensive training, education and experience in mental health advocacy and policy work.
Each fellow is provided with an experienced mentor. Fellows and mentors attend the Hogg Mental Health Policy Academy where they receive training and support.
Organizations in Austin, Waco, Houston, El Paso, Dallas and Elgin received grants.
“We’re looking forward to working with these amazing organizations to increase their capacity to impact mental health policy and support the well-being of all Texans,” said Alison Mohr Boleware, director of policy at the Hogg Foundation.
The grant program, called the Mental Health Policy Academy and Fellows, was first launched in 2010 and builds individual and organizational capacity to further mental health policy and advocacy work. In 2016, the initiative was expanded with the launch of the peer police fellows program.
“Our communities continue to face challenges related to the pandemic and the health care inequities it exposed,” said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation and senior associate vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. “We all stand to benefit from the difficult and important work that these policy fellows will be doing.”
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