TCF - 2024 Annual Report

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

-Margaret Wheatley

SAME MISSION: NEW NAME Our name is evolving, but our mission remains.

sion is Our mis health > than

r assets -and ou o the belong t erve. ity we s commun

The Texoma Health Foundation is now the Texoma Community Foundation (TCF)!

Our new name better aligns with the work we do supporting community wellbeing, and is a reflection of who we truly are: your foundation.

Together, we’re building a vibrant, resilient Texoma where every resident has the opportunity to thrive.

THE TULIP STORY

A story of Tulips, Perfect Love, and Open Hearts Aside from their vibrant colors and elegant petal shape, tulips embrace two meanings shared by the Texoma Community Foundation (TCF) and Reba’s Ranch House: perfect love and hope. This symbolism lives inside the Julia and Herman Ringler Sitting Area at the TCF offices. Custom wallpaper created from a tulip photograph taken by Julia adorns one wall. Herman, the first board chairman of THF, is known for his unwavering dedication to the foundation, his deep love for his community, and most of all, his charming and engaging personality. “Herman knows everyone, and everyone knows Herman because he has a gift of making you feel seen and cared for,” says Michelle Lemming, TCF CEO. “The Sitting Area of the foundation named after the Ringlers is so perfect as we all strive to be like Herman in how we greet friends and strangers alike.” The stunning tulips display when you walk into the room is more than a fabulous backdrop for group photos. It’s a symbol of the perfect love and hope shared by people like Julia and Herman who work behind the scenes to scatter seeds of hope. Julia is known for capturing photos and memories at our foundation and Reba’s Ranch House events since the first year of the foundation. She’s also known for planting tulips in her front yard and inviting the community to come by and take photos. When asked to share her favorite photo, her choice from hundreds of subjects in her arsenal of artwork wasn’t a surprise.

Her photo of tulips now graces the room as a reminder of the perfect love shared through TCF, Reba’s Ranch House, and partner organizations.

The legacy of tulips at the ranch house began with the original building, where people would also stop to take photographs among tulips in bloom at the entrance just like Julia does for the community today. The legacy continued at the new ranch house when Susan Hooper entered Michelle Lemming’s office in the foundation’s early days. Susan had received support through the foundation’s cancer fund and arrived there that day with a mission. “She sat at my desk and said, ‘I just want you to know that I’m ready to pay it forward and I’m not ever going to leave.’ And she didn’t,” says Michelle. “Every single day, Susan Hooper woke up thinking about that fund and how to build it to help other people who went through what she went through.” As a former florist, Susan planted tulips around the ranch house and THF office, and scattered seeds of hope through her tireless fundraising efforts. Those efforts included selling tulip bulbs with notes of encouragement slipped into the bags. After Susan’s passing, seeing tulips pop up around the ranch house in the springtime reminds people like Nicole Thornhill of Susan’s open heart and perfect love. “To this day, I think how beautiful it was, that somebody who was going through so much pain would still want to make the world a beautiful place,” says Nicole.

Tulips are an enduring symbol of the legacy of the open hearts who scatter those seeds of hope and express perfect love to people when they need it most. Next time you pass through the Ringler Sitting Area at THF, be sure to capture a sweet moment in front of this beautiful backdrop that is a reminder of those serving our community with open hearts and perfect love.

May it bring joy and hope into your heart.

Written By: Sarah Sawyer

OUR VISION That every Texoman feels a sense of

hope & purpose

OUR MISSION

249,405 people!

To improve the health & wellbeing

MARSHALL

of OUR NEIGHBORS in

BRYAN

the communities that we serve in

FANNIN GRAYSON

Oklahoma and Texas.

U.S CENSUS 2023

FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

The Gift

Dear Friends and Neighbors, As I enter my final year as Chairman of the Board, I want to express how truly honored I am to have served in this role. It has been an incredible experience, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and support of our community.

In last year’s report I shared that our foundation received an incredible gift and opportunity as a result of a $6 million dollar grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. It was important to us that we maximized the gift, and this report will share with you our process that has led to an up to dollar-for-dollar match of funds for a five year $12 million dollar project to move mental wellbeing forward in our community. This past year was pivotal for our foundation as we devoted extensive time to the development of our strategic plan. I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who participated in shaping this new vision together. Your insights and dedication have been invaluable as we worked to lay the foundation for the future. I am very excited to share that we are now ready to begin the rollout of our foundation's first truly community-owned and community-led plan. This plan is more than just a vision—it is a measurable roadmap to creating a community of mental well-being. At its core is the mission to inspire hope and purpose in families, whether at work, at home, or in the broader community. Together, we will work to build a place where every person has an opportunity to thrive.

I would also like to take a moment to offer a special thank you to two extraordinary individuals, Dr. Tim Parker and Bill Wilson.

Both have served our foundation with dedication completing nearly a decade of service. Their leadership, passion, and commitment to our mission helped shape the organization we are today. As they step off the board, they leave behind a legacy of service, and we will forever be better for their involvement and grateful for their contributions. We will welcome two new board members, Pastor Dana Coker and Dr. Rosalind Lopez. Both are tremendous leaders that will bring new perspectives and ideas as we move forward.

As we embark on a new chapter, we do so under a new name—Texoma Community Foundation. Our foundation is the community's foundation -your foundation. We are committed to serving you, your families and friends, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue building a healthier, more connected community.

Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

Together, we are creating a future full of hope and purpose.

Joe Fallon, Board Chairman

Grief kits distributed to schools across Texom a

OUR BOARD Chairman Joe Fallon Vice Chairman & Grants Chairman, Heather Burrage Secretary/Treasurer Ginger Nye Cindy Bankston Seth Fairchild Pat Flynn Dr. Jeannine Hatt Dan Little Barbara Malone Bryce Martens Leslie Matthews: Reba Inc. Traci Moore Dr. Tim Parker Jim Walker, Investment and Finance Chairman Bill Wilson, Audit Chairman Herman Ringler, Community Advisor

FROM THE CEO & PRESIDENT

The Process

Dear Friends,

We are entering our 15th year with mental health as a priority of our foundation, and this year has been one of the most inspiring and hopeful in our history.

Following a generous gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, we took a big step by partnering with a third-party firm, FSG, to help us create a regional mental wellbeing strategy. We challenged the firm to help us connect with residents who are often unheard, to focus on Texoma's strengths and momentum using an “assets lens,” and to identify levers and drivers proven to improve mental wellbeing across a community.

FSG, our team, and our board helped define what wellbeing means here in Texoma, reviewed extensive research, delved into what’s working and what’s needed, and gathered community perspectives through interviews, focus groups, and listening sessions. This process shaped a clear roadmap for each county and the region that includes measures to track the difference we are making.

45 interviews

9

community site visits

9

focus groups 3 community sessions “lots” of research.

After more than two decades as a CEO, I can say that this process has resulted in the strongest strategic plan I have had the opportunity to be a part of. It is also the first strategic plan that extends beyond the work of our foundation. It was intentionally built with and for our community, with room for others to join us on this journey.

This year’s special report highlights our plan and areas of investment over the next five years. Our overarching goal is to help each other connect to the inherent strengths within ourselves – to find and use resilience already woven into the fabric of our rural communities, to increase awareness to care for ourselves and others, and to inspire hope and empower purpose.

A special thank you to Kitty and Marilyn for choosing our foundation to invest their time and talent. We are excited to watch their paths into retirement and we will miss not having them onsite each day. There is no question that our organization and community are better because of their servant hearts.

I remain honored to do this work, surrounded by passionate, talented, and dedicated people in a region I am proud to call home. One of the quotes from our interviews this year was, “The Texoma community is connected and supportive of one another.” We call this the “Heart of Texoma.”

Th e FSG Te

Michelle Lemming, CEO & President

am

OUR TEAM Retiring this Year: Marilyn Bice, Reba’s Ranch House Director & Kitty Richardson, Chief Operations Officer - we love you!

Deb Boring: Finance and Bookkeeping Jeri Carosella, Reba’s Ranch House Guest Relations Mitch Gray, Reba’s Ranch House Night Manager Michelle Lemming, CEO & President Linda Morgan, Reba’s Ranch House Guest Relations Nicole Thornhill, Texoma Giving Partners Director Welcome to: Adrianne Johnson, Operations Officer Angela Sharp, Grants Officer

THE PLAN

Mental Wellbeing: A sense of hope and purpose that enables individuals to cope with stress and participate in community.

-Definition

OUR CORE GOALS DURING PLANNING

Use an Asset Lens

Hear Unheard Voices

Establish Clear & Proven Measures

Focus on the many

Connect to vulnerable

Identify proven and

strengths of Texoma.

populations not served

measurable levers to move

by TCF grantees.

mental wellbeing forward across communities.

OUR VALUES

Open Door

Open Heart

Open Mind

Our new, defined values are a results of community interviews. When asked by FSG, “What do you think of when you think of the foundation?” -the answers overwhelmingly fell into one of these three buckets.

This was so encouraging to our team as

-we strive to do this everyday.

What is proven to drive mental wellbeing forward across communities?

-Driving Question

A MENTAL WELLBEING FRAMEWORK We first identified mental wellbeing frameworks from around the world to see what was working.

Those with proven measures and metrics were selected and compared in order to find shared themes, or agreement.

This then led to a set of evidence-based actions that we can collectively take to create a culture of mental wellbeing and uplift communities.

AREAS FOR SUPPORT Suicide Rates

Lack of Hope & Purpose

2017-2021

35

5 year rate per capita

30

2

25

in

20

3 US Goal

United States

OK + TX Average

Marshall County

0

Grayson County

5

Fannin County

10

Bryan County

15

RWJ CHR

Residents in Texoma report lack of Hope or Purpose in their life.

GALLUP

Poor Mental Health Days

Substance Use

In 2021 poor mental health days per 30 days: 5.5 (Bryan), 5.7 (Fannin), 5.1 (Grayson) and 5.8 (Marshall) compared to 4.6 (State) and 4.8 (U.S.)

Alcohol-Impaired Deaths in 2021: Bryan (37) compared to State (27) and U.S. (26).

RWJ CHR

RWJ CHR

RWJ CHR: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings

LEADING TO OUR 3 LONG-TERM GOALS

Reduce Suicide Rates

Lower

Substance Use Rates

Increase

Mentally Healthy Days

WHAT WE HEARD

Both Regional + Local Strategies are needed.

MARSHALL BRYAN

TEXOMA

FANNIN GRAYSON

Region-Wide, Common Needs

County-Specific, Unique Needs and Momentum

Regardless of community: Top 1-2 needs continued to surface.

Each county is of course unique in areas of need, momentum and assets.

Our Oklahoma Community Session

REGIONAL STRATEGY

To serve as a primary regional advocate and lead strategies that address cross-cutting regional needs There are common and consistent barriers and needs tied to mental wellbeing regardless of which county in our region we traveled.

These common key concerns became our foundation’s regional strategy that we will work to address equitably across all four of our counties.

TEXOMA

In general, there is stigma. I think that it’s hard to get over because people are raised to be independent and not need help as part of the identity of this area.

-”Unheard Voices” Interviews

REGIONAL STRATEGY 1

Self Care and Social Context The Why: “People just don’t know where to go or where to start.”

“There’s not enough education about prevention so it ends up becoming an emergency situation.”

“Most Texomans have a very difficult time accessing the mental wellbeing care that they need due to lack of capacity, poor navigation resources, and challenges getting to a physical care location.”

to go was the “Not knowing where I started to biggest challenge and who had panic. I didn’t know to talk to.” information or who

RESPONSE

Elevate the Narrative and Increase Awareness Openly talk about mental health and substance use.

Build up resiliency, hope and purpose.

Recognize signs early.

Know how to find quality and timely help.

mmunity Session o C y nt u o C n ni an F r Ou

REGIONAL STRATEGY 2

Mental Health Care The Why: All four counties in Texoma are designated as mental health professional shortage areas.

“Social service, primary care, and community services are siloed and disconnected, often unable to adequately support mental wellbeing needs.”

Wellbeing at work and retention of existing workforce was one of the most common areas of feedback across community sessions.

RESPONSE

Improve Access to Quality, Timely Care through care coordination and true integration of behavioral health services into primary, pediatric, gastrointestinal, and oncology services.

Retain our Behavioral Health Workforce

with a focus on Early Intervention - Preventing Crisis Increase certified mental health trainings leading to an increase in Community Mental Health Workers (CMHW), support group leaders, etc.

Advance degrees and licenses of existing mental health professionals in schools and provider sites using a targeted universalism approach.

Support the development of mentally healthy workplaces that employ mental health staff.

REGIONAL STRATEGY 3

Community Conditions The Why: Basic, essential needs continued to surface in conversations.

Poverty levels in all four counties are higher than the U.S., and philanthropic resources are limited.

Needs shared most often include: broadband childcare food transportation

RESPONSE Support efforts addressing local essential and immediate needs as we work to move long-term mental wellbeing levers through regional strategies 1 and 2.

REGIONAL STRATEGY 4

Advocacy The Why: There are limited funders in our four-county area.

Policy has a significant opportunity to leverage and move work forward.

RESPONSE Advocate for needed policy changes impacting strategic plan goals.

Serve as a voice and partner to promote philanthropic giving in rural and tribal communities.

Continue to encourage increased philanthropy through Texoma Giving Partners.

Mindful Philanthropy - National Roadwhow

Significant increases in the capacity of the current behavioral health system cannot be realized without an increase in public funding.

-Focus Groups

LOCAL STRATEGY

Invest in local collaboration & county-specific priorities.

While there is much in common when it comes to mental wellbeing in our region, our counties are also unique in their needs, assets, and momentum.

Top needs that arose and differed across counties led to tailored, county-led strategies unique to each county.

MARSHALL

BRYAN

GRAYSON

FANNIN

Our Grayson County Community Session

BRYAN STRATEGY

Catalyze Momentum & Collective Action The Strategy: Support and develop a Bryan County Collaborative with a focus on mental wellbeing.

Expand mental wellbeing services in schools and support youth and families.

Increase opportunities to strengthen social connections across Bryan County.

FANNIN STRATEGY

Coordinate Resources to Improve Access to Services

The Strategy: Invest in the Fannin Behavioral Health Leadership Team-Community Well Texas’ collaborative efforts to coordinate and develop mental wellbeing resources and wrap-around services.

GRAYSON STRATEGY

Increase Crisis Stabilization Response & Services The Strategy: Invest in the Texoma Behavioral Health Leadership Team’s collaborative efforts to increase crisis response & stabilization services that provide care to those who would otherwise enter the mental health system through criminal justice and emergency rooms.

MARSHALL STRATEGY

Expand Capacity for Mental Wellbeing The Strategy: Develop a Marshall County Collaborative with a focus on mental wellbeing.

Increase the number of nonprofits operating in Marshall County.

Increase community and outdoor spaces for social connection.

Support school programming to increase mental wellbeing: resiliency, hope and purpose in students.

FOUNDATION REPORT

Ending June 2024

WAYS WE INVEST IN COMMUNITY ds Fun d e t a ls , ir e c o r D n d iv id u & n o D by I ilie s n s F a m iz a t io an O rg

Diver se Gra nt Ma king

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t c a p m cI i t a m on, am r g ra ti & o o r b a l s P C o l a in in g s Tr am P ro

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From July 2023- June 2024

$4.4 Million was distributeed to support charitable programs and initiatives creating community change for residents to live long, healthy lives.

We couldn’t have done it without you!

DISTRIBUTION

of the $4.4 million Collaboration, Trainings & Programs 11.9%

Donor Directed Giving 34.1% Community Grants 18.5%

Reba's Ranch House 17.5%

Place Based Philanthropy 18%

Total Assets as of June 30, 2024

$82 Million

From July 2023- June 2024

$4.3 Million received in donations to help us do more together.

GRANTEE PARTNERS Austin College Southern Oklahoma Rural Transit System - Big Five Boys & Girls Clubs of Red River Valley OK CASA of Grayson County Colton Sherrill Memorial Foundation, Inc. Crisis Control Center Denison Independent School District Divine Equine Therapeutic Riding Center Durant Independent School District Fannin County Children's Center Fannin County Family Crisis Center Fannin County Juvenile Services Fannin Health Clinic Geary Girls Ranch North - Geary Foster Foundations Grant Halliburton Foundation

Grayson College Foundation Grayson County Child Welfare Board Grayson County Children's Advocacy Center Grayson Grand Central Station Greater Texoma Health Clinic Home Hospice of Grayson County House of Eli J127 Ministry MasterKey Ministries of Grayson County, Inc. Open Arms Homeless Shelter Ministry Pregnancy Center of Bryan County Southwestern Diabetic Foundation / Camp Sweeney Texoma Behavioral Health Leadership Team Texoma Community Center Texoma Regional Blood Center The Child and Family Guidance Center of Texoma Trenton ISD Your Health Clinic dba Callie Clinic

TEXOMA HEALTH FOUNDATION PARK

$7 Million invested to-date

REBA’S RANCH HOUSE

1,896 334 9 Nights

Total Guests

Days (Avg. Stay)

148

Different Cities Traveled From

14

Different States

TEXOMA GIVING PARTNERS Jack & Kathleen Berry: Camp Sweeney Scholarships Dr. Max & Shirley Cham: EMS Scholarships Jacqueline Vandiver Chesser: Nursing Scholarships Children’s: Children's Emergency Services Community Fund: Unrestricted Donation to Community Grants Kathy Bourne Crowley: Nursing Scholarships Fannin Co. Hospital Authority: Wellbeing of Fannin County Residents R.L. Franks: Organ Transplants Jerdy & Anne Gary: Supporting Reba's Ranch House Get Above the Crowd: Social & Economic Skills for Girls Nathan Halfmann Memorial: Pottsboro High School Scholarships Health Workforce Education: Improving Health Workforce HP Child & Adolescent Wellness: Child & Adolescent Wellness

Susan Hooper Cancer Care: Cancer Treatments and Surgeries Howe Community Connections: Wellbeing of Howe Residents Reba McEntire: Charitable Projects Supporting Those Most in Need Mary E. Morrison: Supporting Reba's Ranch House Murphy-Mesiti-Miller: Improving Lives of Bryan County Residents

Our t Neweds !

Fun

Roberta Pond: Nursing Scholarships Ralph & Frances Porter: Medical Assistance

T.W. Porter Fund: Safety-Net for Medical Assistance

Reba's Ranch House: Supporting the Legacy of the House Room for Hope Patient Assistance: Cancer Treatments & Surgeries MacKenzie Scott: Health & Wellbeing Texoma Response Fund: Area Relief THF Park: THF Park Special Projects Dr. Mackey Watkins: Dialysis Care

I was surprised by the level of discussion about mental health challenges happening in the community.

I think our community is ready - this is the right time.

-Community Interviews

texomafoundation.org