Mission and Vision Statements
Mission: The Mental Wellness Interfaith Alliance of North Texas is a collaboration between faith communities and partner organizations to improve sustainable mental health and wellness for all North Texas neighbors.
Vision: The Mental Wellness Interfaith Alliance of North Texas envisions all persons in North Texas flourishing with sustainable mental health and wellness through the commitment of faith communities to engage all persons with dignity and respect.
Who we are
The Mental Wellness Interfaith Alliance of North Texas is a group of mental health and wellness programs in interfaith communities that have come together to enhance mental health and wellness in our North Texas neighborhoods.
The Alliance “meets people where they are” with support and guidance to facilitate practical and sustainable solutions. MWIANT seeks to represent and speak with the compassionate voice of spiritual and ministerial care when engaging mental health resources and challenges. We support programs, projects and initiatives of our organizations. We identify community opportunities and challenges that can be addressed by our organizations along with community partners.
How we began
In 2017, Dr. Ed Nace and Bud Browne of First United Methodist Church of Dallas along with Pamela Mickens of St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church conceived of the idea of North Texas interfaith organizations collaborating to navigate our mental health crisis. Their idea was to support the mental health and wellness work being done in their organizations and to go into the community to identify opportunities to develop and produce sustainable solutions to the current issues in our neighborhoods. They wanted to be intentional to not duplicate work being done in other places, but to be additive to the immense needs for better access to mental health services and wellness programs.
In 2019, they conducted a survey of the mental health and wellness activities in seven churches and found each organization had programs inside their churches and in their neighborhoods. Each church said they would like to be a part of a collective group to collaborate on solutions.
Over the next two years, they formulated a program plan that addresses these four functional areas and they they began to work together on initial projects:
· Education & Knowledge Building
· Solutions & Projects
· Advocacy & Access
· Community Collaboration
And, we added the critical element for operational success: the Operations and Administrative Department.
In December 2021, we launched the Mental Wellness Alliance on an ad hoc basis. The five departments now have leaders and have begun to work on specific and defined projects and programs.
In August 2022, the Alliance was one of the sponsoring organizations supporting the NAMI FaithNet North Texas Pathways to Hope conference, which bridged spirituality and mental wellness.
In September 2022, the Alliance added a chief of staff position to enhance operational effectiveness and efficiency. Annette Miller, a member of Wilshire Baptist Church, joined our team as the chief of staff and is partnering with Bud Browne in guiding our organization today. The organization name was updated to Mental Wellness Interfaith Alliance of North Texas.
Our Leaders
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Bud Browne
Program Director, Co-Head Community Collaboration
Bud is a member of the First United Methodist Church Dallas' Mental Health Task Force. He is one of the founding members of the Alliance. Bud is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to current grassroots issues by collaborating with North Texas and national organizations who impact, or are impacted by, mental health and wellness concerns and opportunities.
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Pam Mickens
Co-Head: Advocacy & Access
Pam is a long-standing member of St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church. Through the church's mental health ministry, she's dedicated to working with others to fight injustices surrounding mental health disparities and promote awareness that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved.
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Amy Curtis
Co-Head: Operations
Amy serves as the Senior Director for Counseling for a faith-based non-profit and is a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. Amy believes mental wellness encompasses the mind, body and spirit and is committed to bringing together mental health resources and faith communities.
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Doris Marshall
Co-Head: Advocacy & Access
Doris has been an active member of First United Methodist Church Dallas for many years. Her career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker brought her into the arena of therapy for children and families whose needs for mental health services far outpaced the resources available in their community. She has partnered with others advocating for equity and access of mental health programs for families and children.
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Dr. Ed Nace
Head: Solutions & Projects
Dr. Nace is a board-certified psychiatrist with specialty credentials in addiction psychiatry. He serves as medical director for two local organizations. Ed has published four books on substance abuse problems as well as numerous research studies. His passion in the interface of mental health and religion has led to his involvement with the Alliance. He is a member of First United Methodist Church Dallas.
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Harden Wiedemann
Head: Education & Knowledge-Building
Harden currently serves as Mission Leader for Open Table at Lovers Lane Church in Dallas. His brother and mother are mental health professionals. Harden observed how much COVID has exacerbated our many, unmet needs in mental health and is eagerly applying his multiple skills and experiences to solutions via the Alliance.
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Keesha Browne
Lead Representative
Lakeesha Browne is the Lead Representative for Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Dallas. She is a licensed certified public accountant with her own firm located in Richardson. She is an avid volunteer for her church and nonprofits as she finds joy in seeing the happiness of others.
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Dawn Anderson
Lead Representative
Rev. Dawn Anderson is the Lead Representative for Lovers Lane United Methodist Church. She is associate pastor of care, recovery, and small groups at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church. Dawn holds a Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis in pastoral care from Brite Divinity School. Her undergraduate degree is a B.A. in Psychology and she is passionate about mental wellness and its connection with spirituality.
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Phyllis Dumas
Lead Representative
Phyllis Dumas is the Lead Representative for St. Paul United Methodist Church Dallas. She is an avid volunteer for her church & community. In efforts to bring hope and healing to every community, Phyllis is dedicated to serve on the Alliance so that equities surrounding mental health disparities are promoted in each community, education surrounding mental health is adequately and evenly decimated to decrease various systemic stigmas, and to ensure there is adequate representation of the community on the Alliance team.
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Patricia Chavez
Lead Representative
Patricia Chavez is the Lead Representative for Christ’s Foundry United Methodist Mission, Dallas. She has 18 years experience in working with women, children and family ministries and has seen the great need for mental health awareness in the Spanish speaking community. Her church is in an area known for the arrival of new immigrants. She is looking forward to helping open conversations about mental health and bringing her community closer together.
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Ryan Wager
Co-Lead Representative
Rev. Ryan Wager is a Co-Lead Representative for Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas where he is an associate pastor. His ministry focuses on congregational care, new members, discipleship studies and outreach. He is passionate about an inclusive church and in welcoming all Q+ individuals.
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Kathy Jones
Co-Lead Representative
Kathy Jones is the Co-Lead Representative for Oaklawn United Methodist Church where she supports the church's outreach to their un-sheltered neighbors. She eagerly ministers to this deserving population, especially in the area of mental health which has a significant impact on them.
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Home page photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash.com.