Agency News

Support The Harris Center Foundation

The Harris Center Foundation was established in 2006 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the work of The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD located in Houston, Texas. Our goal is to create philanthropic investments to expand services and programs to better serve our community. 

Letter by a Housing Program Client

"I was a single man just trying to make it on my way. I was the type of person to be a fair and honest, respectful man working for a living. I was going from job to job, never really holding a job down because of my alcoholic problems. I didn’t want to admit to myself and my family that I had a severe problem with alcohol.

I felt everything came crashing down in 2020 when I lost my job at Dr. Pepper. Eventually, I lost my apartment, and I had to stay in a shelter. I also had mental problems I didn’t want to deal with.

Meet our new Administrative Fellow, Bianca Daswani

The Harris Center is pleased to announce Bianca Daswani as the organization’s new Administrative Fellow.

Daswani comes to The Harris Center after working as a Graduate Assistant at Texas Woman’s University and as a Business Operations Intern at Legacy Community Health. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Houston and will receive a dual Master of Healthcare Administration and Master of Business Administration in Business Analytics from Texas Woman’s University in Spring 2022.

The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD Provides Counseling to Astroworld Festival Attendees

Nov. 15, 2021 – HOUSTON - A person’s response to a traumatic event can vary. Depending on their history of past trauma, their direct exposure to the traumatic event and other factors, symptoms could carry on long after the event has passed. 

In an effort to support Houstonians following the tragic events at AstroWorld Festival, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD (The Harris Center) is offering counseling services to anyone impacted by these events – including friends and family members of those who have been impacted.  

Empathetic Engagement and Teamwork Secured Placement for Client and His Service Dog

The phone rang at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night at the Crisis Line. Isabella Rowe, a fairly new member of the Crisis Line team, answered the call. The caller shared he was having a really rough time getting through a terrible divorce and was currently homeless. He was feeling desperate and so hopeless that he had thoughts of dying by walking in to traffic earlier that day. Many of these feelings were due to the love he felt for Sanaa, his service dog of 7 years, who helped him due to a seizure disorder. The caller had a really hard time finding a spot in a shelter since most won't take Sanaa. The caller reported feeling increasingly worried about caring for her properly on the street.