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WACO, TX – The Meadows Foundation has awarded the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network, formerly Heart of Texas Region MHMR Center, a $300,000 grant to further advance the Crisis Hub project that will better centralize and innovate behavioral health services in Central Texas. This follows generous $400,000 and $100,000 planning grants awarded by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation in January 2021 and December 2021, respectively. The project also received a $3 million award from the McLennan County Commissioner’s Court in September 2021.

“We’d like to thank the Meadows Foundation for this generous contribution, said Peter Kultgen, Chairman of the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network Board of Trustees. “It will help us meet our goals toward providing continuity of care, better services to our communities and to also help law enforcement and justice systems meet their requirements in a more efficient and humane manner.

Additionally, “This generous award, along with the awards from community partners such as the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation and the McLennan County Commissioner’s Court, certainly will go a long way to help our community and region receive the best available behavioral crisis care available,” said Tom Stanton, past Director of the Rapoport Foundation.

The Crisis Hub project would center around the development of a new crisis facility on a six-acre South Waco property roughly equal distance between Waco’s two hospitals.

The new crisis facility would serve all six of the Center’s regional counties (McLennan, Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, and Limestone counties) and would be the entry point into the Center’s crisis system in a centralized, cohesive location for various state-funded services and supports. It also incorporates other services, such as physical health and additional substance use disorder services, to be provided by various community partners.  Furthermore, it builds upon other projects currently underway between the City of Waco, McLennan County, and the Network, including a medical clearance component designed to divert individuals from local emergency departments.  Under the medical clearance project, the hub would provide treatment of minor medical issues and medical clearance for low acuity individuals.  The provision of these services will decrease the amount of time it takes for an individual to begin receiving care.  It will also decrease the amount of time law enforcement will be involved, allowing them to return to their regular duties more quickly, and reduce the burden on local emergency departments.

The Meadows Foundation, based in Dallas and established in 1948, has been a generous contributor to communities across Texas, awarding more than $1.29 billion in grants and charitable contributions to 3,600 institutions and agencies serving our state, funding initiatives around the environment, public education, and mental health.

“The Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network is honored and expresses deep thanks to The Meadows Foundation for its generous award,” said Vince Erickson, Communications Director for the Network. “We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Meadows Foundation President Peter Miller, Board Member Bill Nesbitt, and Charles Glover, the Meadows Foundation Vice President of Grants. The Foundation’s state leadership is impressive when it comes to mental health-related initiatives This award will certainly bolster our shared commitment to improve the lives of Central Texans who need accessible, caring and responsive support services for families and individuals who are coping with mental illness, substance use, intellectual disabilities, developmental delays and emotional conflict.”

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