About 200 University of Nebraska–Lincoln students came together with professionals in the fields of mental health, psychology and education to learn about career pathways and explore the most pressing issues facing Nebraska when it comes to behavioral health.
The event, Healing Nebraska: Talent Meets Need, was organized by the University Honors Program and The Foundry, a nonprofit hub in Lincoln, and it was co-sponsored by the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska.
By diving deep into Nebraska’s pressing behavioral health issues, students and professionals discussed where Nebraska has the most pressing needs, what steps the community can take to address those needs and how to support the state’s rising young talent.
A key theme of this event was shared by Ali DeLizza, a professor at UNMC, who emphasized the place that young people have in addressing Nebraska’s greatest workforce needs.
“There’s a place for you here,” DeLizza said. “Behavioral healthcare is incredibly complex because human beings are incredibly complex. We need people to look at every angle of the puzzle.”
The event was a culmination of nine summer internships in which UNL Honors students worked across the state in roles supporting behavioral health initiatives. These internships were sponsored by grant funding from Abbott that was awarded to the university in the inaugural We Give Blood competition in 2024. Through a campus competition, Honors received $65,000 to fund student interns focused on improving the health and well-being of communities across Nebraska. These students were part of the Summer 2026 Intern Foundry program, a partnership between the University Honors Program and The Foundry that annually places about 50 students in purpose-driven, project-based internships with non-profits, government agencies and purposed-based businesses across Nebraska.
The nine Honors students served as research and advocacy interns with partner organizations serving populations across the state, including NAMI Nebraska (statewide), CenterPointe (Lincoln), Mid-Plains Center for Behavioral Health (Grand Island), and Community Alliance (Omaha).
The interns learned far more than just possible career options. Grace Frodermann, a senior Honors psychology major, worked with Community Alliance this summer. She further highlighted the power of this internship opportunity. Frodermann’s work centered on helping individuals experiencing mental health and substance use challenges achieve their potential to live and work in a community of mutual support.
“I got to understand much more vividly what it’s like to have a severe mental illness and see that recovery is possible, no matter how hard it looks at the beginning,” Frodermann said.
Pallas Splattstoesser, a third-year Honors psychology major who worked with CenterPointe, said the internship changed her understanding of behavioral health.
“Mental health is shown as an individual struggle that one person goes through alone,” Splattstoesser said. “And that’s just not true. I’ve learned that when we give and show commitment to the community, they give back.”
For Andrew Moyer, a fourth-year Honors biological sciences major, the experience as an intern with NAMI Nebraska inspired exactly that commitment. Moyer focused on providing care for underserved populations, such as rural residents, immigrants and non-English speakers.
Throughout the experience, Moyer developed a people-centered approach to healthcare that he says he will carry with him as he pursues medical school next year.
“My experiences with building trust and mutual understanding, integrating communities into the mental health sphere, and attending to the person first and the disease second, profoundly inspire the physician I hope to become,” he said.
Chase Francl, CEO of Mid-Plains Center for Behavioral Healthcare Services, said that the event gave professionals the opportunity to connect with young talent and discuss their own experience in the industry. Francl said that the field needs young talent across a range of roles, and he was excited to see so many students at the event.
“As the needs for behavioral healthcare continue to grow and evolve, it’s vital that we engage students,” Francl said. “We can help them figure out their futures and see the opportunities that are available to them. Healing Nebraska was a tremendous opportunity to do just that.”
“As a pre-health student, it’s very easy to only focus on the field that you want to go into. I have always wanted to go into medicine and become a pediatrician,” second-year Honors pre-health student, Honour Bohls, said, summarizing her experience attending the event. ” However, coming to this event opened my eyes on how I could incorporate mental health awareness to become a better doctor to my future patients.”