Into the Fold: the Mental Health Podcast

In schools across Texas, educators are being asked to support learning while also responding to rising levels of anxiety, trauma, and emotional distress among students. But what if schools weren’t just responding to these challenges, but designing new systems to meet them? In conversation with Beth Hines, principal of Arp Elementary School in East Texas, we explore how educators can become architects of change — building environments where social-emotional well-being is part of the foundation of learning. Related Links Op Ed: Safe and supportive schools for every Texas student COVID-19 and Our Schools Children of Change: Supporting Youth Mental Health in an Uncertain World

In a special bonus segment, Hogg Foundation policy fellow Maddie Garza, along with returning guest Ayaan Moledina of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), discuss the Lived Experience Storytelling Primer, a toolkit designed to encourage people with lived experience to engage in advocacy while using a trauma-informed lens to take care of themselves and their stories. Related Links Lived Experience Storytelling: Primer for Advocacy Policy: What's In it For Me? Rising Voices: Telling Your Story Three Things to Know About Meeting with Policymakers

In this timely and heartfelt episode of Into the Fold, co-hosts Vicky Coffee and Ike Evans sit down with Shawn Kent, therapist and director at the Amala Foundation, to explore the mental health challenges—and sources of resilience—facing youth in today’s rapidly shifting world. Together, they unpack the pressures of social media, family stress, school systems, and the profound need for belonging and connection. Shawn offers insights drawn from his work with youth, especially young men, and shares how programs like peer mentorship, creative expression, and third spaces can foster healing and growth. This conversation is a call to rethink how we design environments—at home, in school, and across society—to better support youth and families. Whether you're a parent, educator, or community member, you’ll come away with ideas and inspiration for helping the next generation thrive. Related Links: Amala Foundation Into the Fold: Digital Well-being for Youth

In this episode, we’re diving into a topic that’s both essential and often behind the scenes—funding. Who funds mental health work? How do organizations access support for the critical services they provide? And what does innovation in mental health funding look like? This conversation takes us into the heart of collaboration, innovation, and opportunity—through the lens of the Hogg Foundation’s reunion with the Texas Grants Resource Center. We explore how partnerships like these can unlock new possibilities for community-driven mental health work in Texas. Joining the show are Amy Loar, assistant director of programs at the Hogg Foundation and program administrator of the Texas Grants Resource Center; Giannina Cardenas, grants and contracts strategist at Caritas of Austin; where they take a whole-person approach to ending homelessness; and Lori Najvar, director of PolkaWorks, an Austin nonprofit focused on elevating the untold stories of Texas communities through multimedia storytelling. Related Content: Episode 58: Better Together: Collaborating for Social Impact

Love is a profound and multifaceted concept that has fascinated people for centuries. But do we really understand it? This question is at the center of our most recent episode of Into the Fold, which features an archived recording of the Hogg Foundation radio show, The Human Condition, with commentary by present day staff members, Mary Capps, Elizabeth Stauber, and Darrell Wiggins. Produced and hosted by former Hogg Foundation program officer, Bert Kruger Smith, The Human Condition aired from 1971 to 1983. This episode featured Dr. Leo Buscaglia, professor, motivational speaker, and bestselling author of several books focusing on love and human relationships. Related Links The Loneliness Epidemic

We are coming to you from Austin, Texas, site of the Texas Legislature an epicenter of the changes that are impacting people, as well as concerted efforts to address those changes. We thought it would be fitting to kick off this new season of Into the Fold with a look into the bustling world of public policy – and how policy changes impact mental health. For this conversation we are joined by Mandi Zapata of Texas Civil Rights Project, Noah Jones of Texas Counseling Association, and Maia Volk of Disability Rights Texas. They are all Hogg Policy Fellows, employed by organizations that have received Policy Fellows grants from the Hogg. They came to our studio for a conversation on how their mental health experiences both shape, and are shaped by, their work in the policy arena. Related Links: https://hogg.utexas.edu/texas-mental-health-guide https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-purpose-of-policy-work-in-a-divisive-time https://hogg.utexas.edu/the-future-of-recovery https://hogg.utexas.edu/2-million-awarded-to-train-mental-health-policy-fellows-in-texas https://hogg.utexas.edu/mental-health-goes-back-to-school https://hogg.utexas.edu/hogg-foundation-statement-on-migrant-mental-health

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the unique stresses and rewards of policy work, even or especially during an election year as divisive as this one has been. With the help of Alison Mohr Boleware, policy director for the Hogg Foundation, and Lyssette Galvan, policy director for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas, we'll discuss strategies for maintaining resilience and the deeper purpose behind policy work, even in challenging times. Also check out: Political Climate as a Chronic Stressor A Reality Check Session Update from the Hogg Policy Team Social Work in a Time of Division Some Good News in Public Policy Some More Good News in Public Policy Social Work in a Time of Division Protecting Kids’ Mental Health in a Time of Polarization

For the month of September, the Hogg Foundation is celebrating National Recovery Month. Throughout the month we’ll be highlighting the creativity, resilience, and leadership of people in recovery from mental and substance use conditions, and the many things our grantee partners are doing to transform mental health in their communities. For this episode, we talk to two friends from within the Hogg Foundation’s wide network of changemakers. First, Jason Howell, executive director of RecoveryPeople, about the new film Humanly Possible, which explores the journeys of people recovering from substance use conditions. The film was produced with funding support from the Hogg Foundation. The second segment is a conversation with Hannah Slyzk, a past recipient of the Hogg Foundation’s Moore Fellowship for doctoral research, about youth mental health. Related Links: https://hogg.utexas.edu/recovery-month https://recoverypeople.org/humanly-possible/premiere/ https://hogg.utexas.edu/rethinking-youth-suicide