A well-known philanthropic family will give $900,000 to support a variety of programs in Tulsa that deal with the intertwined issues of mental health, homelessness and incarceration, officials said Wednesday.
Mental Health Association Oklahoma announced the grant from the Hardesty Family Foundation, which provided start-up funding in 2019 for the association’s Criminal Justice Division, supporting several criminal justice diversion programs. The new funding will allow those programs to continue, officials said.
“Mental health and substance abuse are underlying factors in so many of the problems that plague our society, I believe we have to begin with these two fundamental issues,” said Michelle Hardesty, the executive director of the family foundation, “before we can mend the other co-occurring issues like homelessness, domestic violence, incarceration, pregnancy rates, teen dropout and veteran issues.”
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Among other efforts, the Hardesty funding will support case management for Tulsa’s Special Services Docket, which helps people avoid jail time after being charged with misdemeanor offenses that are often related to homelessness. The program allows charges to be dismissed and fines waived if people work with social service groups to address problems such as addiction or mental illness.
The funding will also support the Mental Health Association’s Bridge program, which provides housing for people who were homeless due to untreated serious mental illness, and the association’s Justice and Mental Health Training Center, which provides mental health training for law enforcement officers, attorneys and others involved in the criminal justice system.
“We could not do this very important work without the Hardesty Family Foundation,” said Terri White, the Mental Health Association’s CEO. “Many of our participants are scared to hope, but when we show them we are here for them, we see hope start to shine through their eyes once again.”
The Hardesty foundation was established in 2005 by F. Roger Hardesty and his wife, Donna, who made a fortune in the construction and aviation industries.
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