For generations, churches have been more than places of worship. They’ve 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. Our guest is Pastor Rev. Dr. Daryl Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin, Texas.

Related Links:

• The Caregivers Perspective: Coping with the Loss of Mental Health and Faith

• Reflections from Grantees of the African American Faith-Based Initiative

On a summer morning in July 2025, floodwaters swept through Burnet and Llano counties in Central Texas, turning quiet roads into rivers. Homes were lost. Families displaced. Older adults had to be rescued from a HUD apartment complex. An RV park was destroyed. Over the chaotic weeks that followed, Community Resource Centers of Texas, working with the Texas Housing Foundation, mobilized to help people find more stable housing, rebuild connections, and restore a sense of hope.

Our guest for this episode is Dawn Capra of Community Resource Centers of Texas, an organization that provides essential services and disaster relief in rural Central Texas communities. Though Dawn may not use the phrase mutual aid to describe her work, the organization’s story perfectly captures the spirit of community solidarity that mutual aid represents.

Related Links:

• Climate Anxiety and Young People
• Southern Smoke: Mental Health in the Restaurant Industry
• Relieving Holiday Stress and Hurricane Trauma

All across Texas, people are showing that you don’t have to wait for change from the top down — you can build it from the ground up. And when local efforts succeed, they don’t just transform a workplace, a neighborhood, a classroom — they offer a template for reimagining the system itself.

In this episode Larissa Minner, an expert on disability research and universal design, joins us for an exploration of how small-scale changes to everyday practice can catalyze deeper change not only to lives, but to systems.

Related Links:

• Designing for Mental Health
• Shared Inquiry: A Better Way to Learn
• Community-Based Participatory Research