The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country launched the Family Mental Health Care Fund, a new resource to help families who lost loved ones in the July 4 floods access trauma-informed counseling, grief support and mental health care.
The area the foundation serves is in the title: The Texas Hill Country. They did not want to limit giving mental health resources to residents of Kerr County only and instead leaned into the community aspect of the name.
Austin Dickson, CEO of the foundation, has noticed the mental strain the flood has taken on his community.
“You should, first of all, understand that people who either lost a loved one here but weren’t here that day, or were traumatized here and live in Dallas or Houston, they were members of our community that day,” Dickson said.
Developed in partnership with and managed by the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, the fund provides direct financial assistance for out-of-pocket mental health care costs not covered by insurance, along with navigation to connect families with licensed clinicians trained in trauma- and grief-informed interventions.
Families can use the fund to cover outpatient mental health care costs not covered by insurance and work with the Lucine Center, a Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute affiliate, to find trusted local providers and navigate care options and access services regardless of insurance status.
“Our goal is to remove barriers that keep people from getting the care they need,” said Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. “This fund provides a clear path to help — one number to call, one team to guide people to the right care, and adaptable support as needs evolve.”
The fund comes in grants toward the Meadows Institute that will then reimburse those using the mental health and behavioral services. This is to allow accessibility using the Meadows Institute as a go between for the people who need the resources and the Community Foundation. It will also help those in need get resources faster.
The purpose of the Family Mental Health Care Fund is to fund nonprofits and insurance reimbursements while connecting people to resources to help them grow.
Carolyn Zunker lost her son, Reece Zunker, and said she is thankful for the services the foundation has made readily available to her and her family.
“Losing my son, Reece, my daughter-in-law, Paula, and grandchildren, Lyle and Holland, in the flood broke my heart in ways I didn’t know were possible, but knowing the Community Foundation is offering mental-health support gives me a little light to hold onto,” she said. “It means families like mine don’t have to walk through this alone, and for that, I’m truly grateful.”
Dickson and his team recognize the short and long term access to care needs.
“This is the first right step,” he said.
Once more data comes in from their needs assessment from the last six months, they will reevaluate and help meet the needs as they come around and plan to for months to come.
They thought waiting until the needs assessment came in to deploy was an option, but Dickson knew that he didn’t need it to get the ball rolling.
“We knew people need counseling now, you don’t need a needs assessment to tell you that,” Dickson said. “We want to make sure that there are resources for all of us here in Kerr County, and we do not have a lot of health resources here.”
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