Group gets $410K for well-being initiatives

Bastrop County Cares looking to build coalitions to address issues in county.

A nonprofit in Bastrop County was among six associations awarded a grant by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to support collaborative approaches to well-being in rural communities.

Bastrop County Cares, an intermediary organization focused on improving the social determinants of health for residents in the county, was awarded a $410,000 three-year planning grant.

“With the grant, we’re looking to build coalitions and collaboratives within Bastrop County,” said Krystal Grimes, resilience director for Bastrop County Cares. “It fits seemingly with the work we’re already doing — we’re an intermediary that builds coalitions to address issues that not one organization can solve.”

Grimes said the grant was awarded to Bastrop County due to its health indicators. “In Bastrop County there are a lot of issues that correlate to resilience and mental health and well-being that kind of leads to adverse childhood experience — and a lot of those are what we consider social determinants of health.”

Debbie Bresette, executive director of Bastrop County Cares, said she was excited to learn her program was awarded a grant because the county recently has experienced seven disasters — six floods and a wildfire — over the course of about two years.

Bresette said the county will serve as part of a pilot program for the Hogg Foundation to see how rural communities can identify solutions to challenges to well-being.

Grimes said with the grant, Bastrop County Cares will build four collaboratives to address residents’ issues:

A faith-based coalition will look at bridging the connections and trust within the faith communities in the county.

A veterans coalition will be aimed at addressing issues in Bastrop County, as well as which resources can be strengthened to augment the support and help they’re getting.

A microcommunities coalition will focus on communities that are traditionally excluded either because of geographical, socioeconomic, racial or other factors — such as Stony Point, Shiloh and Lake Bastrop Acres — to evaluate what they’re going through, and how more of those members of society can become involved in county decisions.

A coalition will explore the challenges children are facing and identify solutions and resources to help.

“I’m running around trying to find voices that have not been at the table,” Grimes said. “Who needs to be involved in all of the work that we’re doing right now? How can we just strengthen that with all voices from all over the county? There are some amazing things that are happening.”

The Hogg Foundation’s initiative is an outgrowth of its new direction, which shifts from a primary focus on individual mental illness to root causes of poor mental health at the community and systems level.

Rick Ybarra, program officer for the foundation, said the grants are not intended to offer money to do more of the same things; rather, the hope is the organizations awarded funding will pioneer new approaches to resilience, mental health and well-being that everyone can learn from.