New three-year initiative will expand access to evidence-based trauma and grief care by equipping local clinicians, schools and families to better support North Texas youth
Soar, the nonprofit mental health initiative of M2G Ventures dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, today announced a new partnership with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to launch the Tarrant County Trauma and Grief Collaborative. The three-year initiative will expand access to proven trauma- and grief-informed care for North Texas children and families. This new long-term funding collaboration marks a defining next step in Soar’s evolution to advance research, advocacy and community-based solutions.
Established in 2019, Soar’s approach begins by listening to real-world needs, identifying expert partners capable of addressing them and directing sustained funding toward solutions that can create both immediate and lasting change. Through this partnership, Soar’s investment will support a new, Tarrant County-specific program that would not otherwise move forward—bringing the Meadows Institute’s nationally recognized Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center model directly into local schools and communities.
“When we started Soar, it came from something deeply personal, the belief that no family should face a mental health crisis without the right support in place. Every partnership since has been chosen with that same conviction: find the people already doing the deepest, most important work, and give them the resources to go further. The Meadows Institute and the TAG Center represent exactly that. This partnership isn’t just an expansion of what Soar does, it’s a signal of what Soar has become: a long-term investor in the mental health of this community through research, advocacy, and community building,” said Soar Co-Founder, Jessica Miller Essl.
The search for Soar’s newest partner began after the devastating 2025 Central Texas floods underscored how urgently families need both immediate mental health support and long-term pathways to healing after trauma and loss. At the time, Soar responded with $40,000 to support trauma and grief services in our community, while widening its focus beyond a single disaster to examine how unresolved trauma affects children and families across North Texas—from bereavement and natural disasters to abuse, housing instability and other adverse experiences. The organization then sought a partner capable of pairing compassionate community care with the research, training and infrastructure required to improve outcomes over time.
According to a local needs assessment conducted by the Meadows Institute, an estimated 78,000 Tarrant County youth ages 10 to 19 experience the death of a loved one each year, while more than 58,000 are exposed to multiple traumatic events. Yet few school- and community-based treatment settings are equipped to provide evidence-based trauma and grief care.
“We are deeply grateful to Soar for its support and generosity in helping children and families across Tarrant County,” said Dr. Julie Kaplow, Executive Director of the Trauma and Grief Center. “Far too many youth in the region are struggling to overcome a pervasive but silent epidemic of childhood trauma and grief. This partnership will allow us to empower clinicians, parents, educators, and other caring adults to help children heal and lead happier, healthier lives.”
Over the three-year project, the TAG Center plans to train at least 180 school-and community-based clinicians across Tarrant County through annual learning collaboratives focused on Trauma and Grief Component Therapy and Multidimensional Grief Therapy (the nation’s only evidence-based treatment specifically designed for childhood grief). Those clinicians are expected to serve approximately 1,440 young people, creating a wider and more sustainable network of care where children already spend their time.
The collaborative will also offer workshops for parents, caregivers and educators to help them recognize signs of traumatic stress and grief, understand when a child may need additional support and make timely referrals for treatment. As clinicians deliver care, standardized outcome data will flow back to the TAG Center, allowing researchers to evaluate what is working, refine interventions and continually strengthen the model in a cycle that connects research to training, training to treatment and treatment back to better research.
“Soar began with something personal—a family’s heartbreak that became the reason we started this work in the first place. That experience opened our eyes to just how many gaps exist in mental health care, especially for children and families navigating trauma and grief,” said Katie Wharry, Director of Social Impact. “Since then, our approach has been simple: find where the need is greatest, find the experts equipped to meet it, and commit real, sustained resources to get it done. The TAG Center at the Meadows Institute is exactly that kind of partner. This is Soar showing up for Tarrant County in the way we always hoped to—not with a one-time gift, but with a three-year commitment to real, lasting change.”
Please join Soar and Meadows on September 15, 2026 for a virtual meet and greet to learn about the partnership between these two distinguished organizations and how they plan to make an impact in Tarrant County in the coming years. To join, please register HERE.
Founded by M2G Ventures co-founders Susan Miller and Jessica Miller Essl following a personal family tragedy, Soar is rooted in both personal conviction and proven business leadership. As entrepreneurs, the sisters have brought to Soar the same discipline, strategic thinking and commitment to long-term impact that have shaped M2G Ventures, building a funding model around mental health needs that are critical but often overlooked. Its inaugural partnership with UT Southwestern’s Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care helped expand youth-focused depression research and clinical resources in North Texas. Its partnership with the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation broadened that work into evidence-based suicide prevention and education. The addition of the TAG Center at the Meadows Institute completes a more holistic continuum aimed at advancing research and treatment, prevention and now trauma- and grief-informed care.
Through collaborative partnerships with mental healthcare innovators and art-centered signature events—including Muse at the Modern, an education-and advocacy-centered spring program, and Art of the Mind, its annual fall fundraiser—Soar has elevated awareness of the need for new mental health solutions, generated momentum toward change and raised more than $2 million in pursuit of new pathways to healing and wholeness.
For more information about Soar or to set up an interview, please contact Ivy Lopez ativy@hollandcollective.co.
Source: Press Release
