Statements

Mission

The mission is to mobilize a network of volunteer mental health professionals to meet pressing emotional needs of Tennesseans during times of community crisis.

Background

MHART initially formed in response to the growing anxiety of the healthcare community surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a simple survey from a psychologist to community mental health providers to identify referrals for healthcare workers evolved into a much larger dream and vision. Representatives from large mental health professional organizations, Tennessee Psychological Association, Nashville Psychotherapy Institute, National Association of Social Workers-Tennessee Chapter, all responded asking how they could join efforts to support the community.

On April 3, 2020, this group of mental health professionals met for the first time virtually and shared their passion for creating a network of volunteers to help support the Tennessee community both in response to COVID-19 and in response to future emergent needs like natural disasters or community violence. The founding Board members put in an incredible amount of work in a short period of time and incorporated as the Mental Health Active Response Team on April 25, 2020.

In partnership with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug & other Addiction Services (TAADAS), and the National Association of Social Workers- Tennessee Chapter (NASW-TN), MHART launched the Tennessee COVID-19 Emotional Support Line for Healthcare Workers (1-888-MHARTTN) on May 26, 2020. The Support Line has grown to be housed by Family and Children Services.

In September 2020, MHART launched its pro bono psychotherapy program. This program serves as a bridge between Tennesseans in need and mental health professionals willing to volunteer therapy sessions during times of urgent and emergent needs in the community.

While essential workers are the current recipients of these efforts, MHART intends for this to be a model that will be used again and again whenever disaster strikes. Through the devastation of tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, pandemics and yet unimagined crises, MHART will harness the power of volunteerism to quickly respond to the mental health needs of Tennesseans.

Impact

Accomplishments from the past year:

1. We launched a statewide Emotional Support Line for Healthcare workers under stress due to COVID-19.

2. We Expanded the statewide Emotional Support Line to include Educators throughout the state as well through a partnership with the TN Department of Education.

3. Family and Children Services has taken over our Emotional Support Line to make sure someone will answer the phones no matter what, without having to totally rely on a volunteer network.

4. We launched our Pro Bono Therapy Service statewide which gives 4 free therapy sessions to essential workers throughout the state of TN.

Goals for the next year:

1. We want to expand our reach by marketing our 2 services better to reach as many of the people in our audience as possible.

2. In order to accomplish Goal #1, we need to keep signing up more volunteers for our Pro Bono Therapy Service so as not to exhaust our resources, and we need to continue to raise funds to go towards marketing and administrative costs. We pay an Executive Coordinator, a Social Media Coordinator, a Graphic Designer, and a Website Development team for regular maintenance of our programs and services to further the mission of MHART to serve those in need.

Needs

Current Needs over the next year:

1. $50,000 to support administrative costs to keep MHART running over the next year.

2. $30,000 over the next year to support our marketing efforts, advertising, and social media maintenance costs.

3. Volunteers who are licensed TN Therapists for our Pro Bono Therapy service who are able to give 4 free sessions to an essential worker(s).

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Mental Health & Crisis Intervention  - Hot Lines & Crisis Intervention
Secondary Category:	-
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

Statewide