Hogg Foundation for Mental Health

Two Houston NAMI Chapters Receive Grant from St. Luke’s to Create a National Demonstration Model for Mental Health Training in Houston

August 3, 2011

NAMI HOUSTON – Two local chapters of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) have received one of four grants awarded in Houston to fund children’s mental health training programs for adults who work with children and youth in the Houston area but aren’t mental health professionals.

NAMI Metropolitan Houston and NAMI West Houston will create a national demonstration project, based on a national program, to train more than 300 school professionals and parents on how to work together to identify the warning signs of mental illness in children and adolescents, and where to seek treatment in the community.

The “Parents & Teachers as Allies” children’s mental health training program has never been offered in the Houston area. The program is taught by teams of volunteers who have experienced mental illness themselves or have worked with children with mental illness or emotional disturbance. The program is being funded with a $5,000 grant from St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities.

“The St. Luke’s grant will enable us to enhance and expand children’s mental health programs in Houston schools by raising awareness, encouraging early intervention, and increasing understanding of mental illness among teachers, staff and parents,” said Jinneh Dyson, executive director of NAMI Metropolitan Houston.

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities awarded the Ima Hogg Community Education Grants to pay for training for people who work with hundreds of children and youth of all ages, including those who live in Houston’s neediest neighborhoods. The training will enable participants to recognize the signs of mental illness in children, respond appropriately, and help families locate services in the community.

The grants are in honor of Miss Ima Hogg, a beloved and influential Houston philanthropist who supported mental health, music and the arts, education, and other causes in Houston and across Texas. In 1963 she directed the foundation to periodically fund children’s mental health training for adults in Houston and Harris County.

Other recipients include Boys and Girls Country of Houston, Inc., Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston – Houston, and Texas Association for Infant Mental Health.

The Hogg Foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Governor James S. Hogg, and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. The foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by funding mental health services, policy analysis, research, and public education.

Through research-informed grantmaking to Texas nonprofits, St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, a separate component of St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System, improves community health and reduces health disparities. Our Center for Community-Based Research is dedicated to community-based participatory research practices that foster informed action, collaboration and empowerment for the medically underserved and other vulnerable populations.