Alamo Colleges Foundation Receives $200,000 grant focused on improving Mental Health and Well Being

The Alamo Colleges Foundation is proud to announce it has received a $200,000 grant from the Trellis Foundation to fund a data-informed plan focused on improving mental health and well being across the Alamo Colleges District. 

The grant will allow the district to strengthen its mental health resources by offering a comprehensive needs analysis, including faculty, staff, students and community partners of all five Alamo Colleges. 

The results of the analysis will help develop a plan for public awareness, faculty and staff training, student groups and increased mental health and well being services. 

The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute will serve as the lead technical assistance provider on the grant project, providing the Alamo Colleges District with existing mental health resources and crafting key takeaways from the work as it develops. 

The Jed Foundation and Active Minds will also assist with the grant project that will last two years. 

“On behalf of the Alamo Colleges District, we are grateful to the Trellis Foundation for their generosity to support this grant project,” said Dr. Mike Flores, Alamo Colleges District Chancellor. “We know that access to college doesn’t just mean academic help. At the Alamo Colleges we will continue to look at ways we can improve access to mental health resources to better serve our 72,000 students.”

According to data assembled from a self-report survey of approximately 1,600 students served by the Alamo Colleges District advocacy centers in 2021-2022, approximately 48.7% of students sought resources for mental health. All five of the Alamo Colleges have on-campus advocacy centers and provide emergency student aid, help with essential needs and individual and group mental health counseling at no cost to students. 

The Alamo Colleges District was among the 10 awardees across the state of Texas. Other awardees included:

• Amarillo College
• Angelo State University
• Austin Community College District
• Paul Quinn College
• Sam Houston State University
• University of Houston-Downtown
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• University of Texas System
• Victoria College