Faith as a Mental Health Partner

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Into the Fold is part of the Texas Podcast Network. [00:00:03] Speaker B: The conversations Changing the world brought to you by the University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests and not of the University of Texas at Austin. For generations, churches have been more than places of worship. They have been gathering spaces, support systems, sources of strength in moments of uncertainty and crisis. In African American communities, especially faith institutions have long been trusted partners in health and healing, often filling gaps where systems fall short. Today's episode explores what becomes possible when that trust is paired with intentional partnership across faith, community and mental health systems. Hi, welcome to into the Fold, the mental health podcast. I'm Mike Evans and I'm glad to have you with us as we continue our season long exploration of growing capacity for change. This episode is part one of our partnership arc. Over these three episodes, we focus on collaboration on what happens when organizations, institutions and communities work together to expand access to mental health care and reduce stigma. For today, faith as a mental health. [00:01:37] Speaker C: Partner, it is a place where we are concerned not just with the soul of the person, but we're also concerned about the entire being. And so when it comes to mental health, we can be a resource, we can be a place for information, and we can also be a place where we can guide people to places where they can get the help that they need. [00:01:57] Speaker B: Today's conversation centers on faith based partnerships and their unique role in addressing mental health disparities. My guest is Reverend Darrell Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin, Texas. Greater Mount Zion has served its community for more than 150 years, and over that time it has become a trusted anchor not only for spiritual life, but for health advocacy and community well being. With support from a HOG foundation grant, Mount Zion launched the Village Wellness Support Program, a holistic initiative rooted in mind, body, spirit and community. [00:02:40] Speaker A: Okay, so Reverend Horton, thank you so much for being with us today. [00:02:45] Speaker C: Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. [00:02:48] Speaker A: So my first question is just starting with the big picture. [00:02:54] Speaker B: Health disparities, especially in mental health, continue. [00:02:58] Speaker A: To affect Texas communities at disproportionately high rates. Why do you think churches are such critical partners in addressing these disparities? [00:03:12] Speaker C: That's a great question. I do think that churches can be a critical entryway because your church is a trusted resource. Your church is a place where you feel that you can be transparent, that you can be open, but also it's a place where you can find help. And so I do believe that, especially in the African American community and in our churches, it is a place where we are concerned not just with the soul, the person, but we're also concerned about the entire being. And so when it comes to mental health, we can be a resource. We can be a place for information, and we can also be a place where we can, you know, guide people to places where they can get the help that they need. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:52] Speaker B: And. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Yeah. And so I'm always wanting to try to get a visual sense of. Of how someone, like, even within your congregation may find their way into a mental health conversation that you've noticed or experienced and kind of just what that. [00:04:16] Speaker B: Tends to look like. [00:04:17] Speaker C: Sure. I think it can happen a couple of different ways. Amazingly enough, as we're talking about the Bible, talking about scripture, there are sometimes that we talk about individuals in the scriptures who seem that they could have had some mental health challenges. And so as we're studying them, as we talk about their lives, people can relate to those and say, that sounds like something I've gone through, an experience that I've had, and then it'll naturally transition to a mental health conversation. Other times I've just had people come in to talk about the stresses of life, the challenges of life. And as we're talking about how to help them, how to help them walk through those journeys, the idea of mental health support can come up. And so then we begin to talk about how much I can help them as their pastor, how much of the resources we have within the church, but then also how we could also refer them to others to get the mental help that they need. [00:05:11] Speaker B: Okay. [00:05:11] Speaker A: And so Mount Zion has a long history of partnering with academic and community organizations on health initiatives. What have those partnerships, what have those partnerships taught you about what works and what doesn't when institutions collaborate with faith communities? [00:05:36] Speaker C: We have had a great history, and we are grateful for all the partners that we've had. And of course, there are lessons that we have learned. I believe one of the major lessons that we've learned is that our community partner must be willing to come and to learn about the faith community so that they know exactly who it is that they're partnering with. Just like any other organization, any other partner that you're going to have, there are going to be intricacies, there are going to be unique things that make our community work. And so our partnerships work best when those persons or those organizations are willing to come in to visit with us, to be with us, to hang around us, to kind of see what the environment and the culture looks like. But then it's also when they have a sincere desire to help our people, whoever that may be, in our congregation. And so when they're coming in, and it's not about just us being another research group, it's not about getting data from us. It's not about just using us for research, but there's really an honest effort that says we want to come and be supportive. We want to help you do some things that maybe the church can't do on their own. And those have been some of our most beneficial relationships. [00:06:42] Speaker A: Okay. And so do you have a particularly vivid example of a partner kind of being willing to fully walk that journey with you? [00:06:53] Speaker C: Yes. As you would have it, the University of Texas has been great, especially with the School of nursing. They have been a partner with us for a number of years, where they have come in, they've brought their students, their nursing students to come and be with us. They would come and hang out with us for at least a semester, depending on what they're doing for that semester. They would come to get to know our young people, come to know our seniors, whatever that respective group is that they're coming in to look at. And it works out well because they come in, they educate our membership, we actually develop relationships with them. And then it also helps us as Mount Zion because it builds a sense of trust. And so now we're at a place where it's been a number of years, so that anytime I stand before the congregation and I'll say just about anything related to the University of Texas, and there are people coming, they're coming for research or they're coming to help us, they know that they can welcome them because of the good vibes that we've had before and the good results of what we've had, that they've been able to learn things. They've been able to learn things about themselves, learn things about their health, and learn things about systems and things that they can operate for themselves toward better health. [00:07:59] Speaker A: So what I hear is that partnership isn't just about programs. It's about respect, trust, and shared leadership. [00:08:09] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:08:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:10] Speaker C: Yeah, it takes all those. [00:08:13] Speaker A: I'd love to talk more about the Village Wellness Support Program, which stands for vast initiatives launched in love for all ages. [00:08:26] Speaker C: Yes. [00:08:26] Speaker A: First of all, say some things about how you all came up with that name. [00:08:30] Speaker C: Well, I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't. It's the members of our health ministry who really had the vision for this and had the idea that it's one thing for us. And it's important, of course, for us to help the members of Mount Zion. But because of our church and just because of the history, we also want to make sure that we're helping the community around us. And so I think they sat around and of course, they prayed about it and had some brainstorming sessions, and they realized that there's a phrase that we hear around the church all the time, and that is it takes a village to raise children and to raise our community. And so I think that's where that whole acronym about village came from. [00:09:05] Speaker B: Okay. [00:09:06] Speaker A: And so can you walk us through what village looks like in practice and how it brings together mind, body, spirit, and community? [00:09:16] Speaker C: Absolutely. So the village program, what happens is that an individual comes to Mount Zion either as a member or as a member of the community. And most often, they're coming to us because they've heard that Mount Zion is a church that tries to help people. Again, when it comes to challenging times, whether it's with their rent, their utilities, people may not be able to afford their prescriptions, whatever it might be, we try to help them when it comes to those challenges in their life. And so now when people come to us, we sit down with them, we ask them about their concerns, what are their challenges? How did you get to this place? Because we want to help the whole person. And most often, as we take a person in our church who we describe as a lay health worker, we partner them with the individual who comes so that we may get to know their story, get to know what they're doing, what they're about, where they're trying to go. And in the process of that, we begin to hear that some people actually would like to. To have the opportunity to see a counselor, to see a therapist, to see a mental health clinician. And so what we do with that village support program is that thankfully, with partnerships like the Hogg foundation, we're able to assign them and connect them with a therapist who can meet their needs. Whether it's an individual, a single person, a married couple, whether it's children. We have been in a very good place where we can find clinicians who are able to talk with each of them. And so as they're receiving the services, as we're helping them with their physical, we're also making sure that their mental needs are being met. And we're giving them a companion, someone to have relationship that just walks them through this part of their life. And so we're willing to walk with them as long as they need us to walk by them. And therefore, we see it as us Coming together to surround them with a village of support. [00:10:57] Speaker B: Okay. [00:10:59] Speaker A: And are there, like, particular roles that people have within the village structure? [00:11:06] Speaker C: Sure. We have the persons who are the original points of contact. Those are the ones who take all the information, who will find out exactly what their concerns are, and then they'll hand them off to our lay health workers. And that's the person who will go back and make the contact with the individual again, get to learn them, learn their family situation, and then dig a little bit deeper into exactly what are your needs and what are your concerns. And from there, the persons who are working with us, they will make the contact with the mental health clinician, they'll arrange a meeting and connect the two of them together. And at the same time, our lay health worker also has the responsibility and the opportunity to connect them to other resources in the community that they may need. And so that lay health worker person is really the one who is the primary contact who walks with the individual to make sure they get everything they need, make sure that they're going to their appointments, and just make sure that we're following them and walking with them and being as helpful with them as we can. Okay. [00:12:03] Speaker A: And so do you have any anecdotes about village in action that kind of show its uniqueness or effectiveness that you care to share? [00:12:16] Speaker C: Yeah, we're grateful that we have lots of stories in this last two and a half years that we've been doing this program. And so there's one instance I can think of where we've had a family that was actually experiencing homelessness. And the family found out about our program. They came to us seeking help. Of course, the primary need is to find a place to stay. And so, thankfully, through our resources and our connections, we were able to connect them with a place where they could at least get temporary housing. It was from month to month. And then as we begin to know more of that family story, we found out about their job situation. So we were to help. We were able to help them and refer them to a place to find stable employment. And once they had stable employment, they could find a stable place to stay. And then once we took care of that, then we began to walk with them and taking care of the children, making sure they were in a school, they were in a place where they. Where the children could grow. And so each one of those pieces, although it took over a year to try to get these things work together, it all began because they did not have a place to stay. And then, of course, we're very grateful that they would come to Mount Zion and get their spiritual needs met there as well, find that sense of community and support that they need. And so that's, that's one of several stories that we have where people come with one particular need and we find other ways that we can be supportive and walk with them. And now their lives are. They're flourishing and they're in a better place because we were able to hopefully walk beside them. [00:13:40] Speaker A: One thing that stands out is that this isn't about replacing professional care, it's about strengthening the pathways to care. [00:13:49] Speaker C: Yes. [00:13:50] Speaker A: How do you see programs like Village helping improve coordination and access, especially for people who might otherwise fall through the cracks? [00:14:01] Speaker C: That's a great question. I think programs like the Village program can be very helpful, number one, because it provides awareness. We are also noticing that there are a lot of people because of unfortunately, the stigmas that are in our community, that they just remain silent, that they choose to ignore, that there are health concerns, that there are mental health issues that need to be addressed. And so I think through the church and through Village programs, just that awareness of us being open and talking about it can help people to get to a place where they need. I think, secondly, the church is another place where we're not afraid to reach out to other places that can't do that, can do what we can't. The church wants to be a one stop shop, a place where you can get everything that you need. But churches are limited. And so in us building relationships with other community partners, it makes us just a natural place where you come, you share with us what your needs are, and then we reach out to our partners to help get those needs met. And so I think the Village program, where you're willing to surround people, to be patient with people, to walk with them on their journey, to try to understand what it's like to walk in their shoes, to be there with compassion and grace. I think any of those programs could be great for the community and to help people get to a place where they can fulfill all the potential they have in their life. [00:15:17] Speaker A: This feels like a model of partnership at its best, where faith, community and mental health systems each bring their strengths to the table. [00:15:27] Speaker C: Absolutely. Yeah. [00:15:30] Speaker A: So I can't help but be curious about your own personal background with mental health, even going back to before you were a pastor, I guess, formative experiences with mental health, either in the abstract or kind of within your own personal story. Would you be just willing to take us into as much as you're comfortable with? [00:15:58] Speaker C: Sure. No. I appreciate the question for me, to be really honest, mental health was really not a concern until later in my life, going through school, going through graduate school and all of those things. I never really thought about the seriousness of mental health until I began to, not even as the senior pastor, but begin to serve people in the church and begin to look at family dynamics. And then when I begin to think about my own family and begin to think about relatives and begin to think about others and begin to think about behaviors and just, again, the stigmas that we have behind those things, it became more serious to me when I came into ministry because I wanted to figure out how to help families the best that we could. And so I. I had never gone to a psychiatrist or a psychologist or a therapist before until we started some of these programs at the church. And so it was really through the church that my eyes were opened with the possibilities of partnerships and connections and really how those programs can be helpful to people to have someone to talk to. As a pastor, I'm learning a lot more that some people just need to talk. Some people just really want to get some things off their chest. They just really want to say it out loud. And so there are certain degrees to which I can do that for people. But I also have to come to the realization, even as a pastor, that I have limits to what I can do. And so I had to come to the knowledge that even though being seminary trained and doing all those other things, I'm not a licensed counselor, I'm not a licensed therapist. And so sometimes I need to refer someone to someone who can help them a little bit more professionally than I can. And so that's kind of my history with the mental health circle and with looking at that in my experience up to this point. [00:17:42] Speaker A: So you are not the first pastor who I've interviewed for the podcast. And I think one topic that previous guests have spoken to is, I guess I would characterize, as the extent to which you may not find the time for your own mental health until you're at a point where you have to be really present and accounted for for others. And, yeah, I mean, of all vocations, ministry can really catalyze that. [00:18:21] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I think that that's important. I appreciate you asking that, because you're right. There are a lot of clergy persons who end up dealing with that term burnout, because we're so busy looking after others, taking care of our families and doing those things that we don't really look in the mirror to take care of ourselves until it's almost too late. And so again, I'm very grateful that I have a spouse who is in the healthcare profession and she makes sure that I try to do those things to take care of myself. And again, I think programs like the Village program and even the program we had before this, it helped me to also acknowledge that I need a place where I can share, where I can talk, where I can get the rest that I need. Because if I'm not healthy, then I can't be healthy enough to help other people. [00:19:09] Speaker A: Okay. And so for those who want to learn more about either Greater Mount Zion or the village program, specifically, how might they do that? [00:19:23] Speaker C: Sure. Well, I appreciate that. Yeah. So we're at the Mount Zion church and you can go to our website, which is actually Mt Zion hyphen baptist.org and there's a link there to the village program and to our health ministry. And I think also at the University of Texas School of Nursing, if you go to their website, you'll see some of our collaborative research and stuff that's done together there as well. [00:19:47] Speaker B: Okay. [00:19:48] Speaker A: All right. Well, Reverend Horton, we really do appreciate you taking the time to just share your insights with our listeners. Mount Zion is a Hog foundation grantee partner. [00:20:04] Speaker C: Yes. [00:20:05] Speaker A: And thank you so much. [00:20:07] Speaker C: Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. [00:20:12] Speaker B: As we wrap up, a quick reminder that this episode is part of our new season theme, Growing capacity for change. Across four ARCs, community, partnership, policy and research, innovation and education. We're exploring how people all across Texas are growing their capacity toward a better, more lasting mental health landscape. If you missed the first arc of episodes, community, it is in our back catalog and I hope you take the time to check it out for your listening enjoyment. Here are some snippets from those three conversations. [00:20:52] Speaker D: So we aren't mental health professionals, but we do see the trauma that affects or affected the people who were involved in this flood. It caused life changing alterations and fear. They lost everything. So they didn't know what their next steps were going to be and frankly, they were just in shock. [00:21:22] Speaker E: For me, research that is inclusive for disability is also about healing. Research affects huge parts of our lives. Healthcare, education, services, support. But disabled people haven't always been involved in shaping it. And there's still massive room for improvement there. And that can take a toll on people's mental health, especially if they've spent years feeling misunderstood or spoken about. [00:21:53] Speaker F: And to think about the ways in which trust in the government has largely been eroded in this era. The government which we pay into should be providing beneficial supportive services. To people in the US and across the globe. We're discussing the heartbreaking reality that millions of people are about to face exorbitant health costs meeting them. And it's a long history. And in this moment, in 2025, we're contending our work in coalition with a fight for the dignity of all people. Yes, but with this erasure of history. [00:22:31] Speaker B: If you haven't already, check out our previous episodes this season and follow along as we continue to tell stories that connect and inspire. [00:22:41] Speaker A: And that does it for this episode. We're glad you could join us. [00:22:44] Speaker B: Production assistance by Cheyenne Salazar, Kate Rooney and Daryl Wiggins and thanks as always to the Hogg foundation for its support. If you have comments or anything you would like to share about the podcast, feel free to reach out to us at into the foldustin utexas. Edu. Especially thoughtful comments will be acknowledged during a future episode. Your My, Our Mental Health matters. [00:23:10] Speaker A: Please leave us a review and subscribe. [00:23:11] Speaker B: To us on your preferred podcast platform. And don't forget to check the show notes for related content, including past episodes. Transition Music by Antoni Rajikov Taking us out now is Anna's Good Vibes by our good friend Anna Harris. Thanks for joining us.