Bob Brown’s service to My Health My Resources of Tarrant County began when he heard that former commissioner Marti Van Ravenswaay’s office was in search of a lawyer to serve on the board.
Brown is a lawyer and also had the personal experience of having a cousin who had an IDD — an intellectual or developmental disability.
Due to his background, Brown expressed his interest in being a board member and was appointed. Nearly three decades after he began, his service has extended beyond MHMR.
“Bob represents MHMR, translates MHMR and connects people to its mission,” said Catherine Carlton, chief of staff for MHMR of Tarrant County, in an email to the Fort Worth Report. “He leads with his professional expertise and deep care for people most in need. He is a champion of our employees and our patients.”
Brown’s long-term commitment to the county’s mental health community resource earned him a nomination for 52 Faces of Community, the Fort Worth Report’s weekly series highlighting unsung local heroes.
Brown is a graduate of the University of Texas Law School, where he took a course about mental health commitments.
“We got to actually do some appearances in court for people who were being committed under the statutes in effect at the time,” he said.
Brown has used his legal experience to help veterans, participating in the pro bono legal organization Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans. He is also a veteran — he attended the United States Military Academy and served in the Army for five years.
“Bob represents MHMR, translates MHMR and connects people to its mission. He leads with his professional expertise and deep care for people most in need. He is a champion of our employees and our patients.”
Catherine Carlton, chief of staff for MHMR of Tarrant County
At the organization’s clinics, Brown advised veterans on legal issues such as adoption or landlord-tenant disputes.
Brown helped to start and served on the board of directors of the Veterans Coalition of Tarrant County, a nonprofit that brought together organizations serving veterans so they could collaborate and fill gaps in services.
He currently represents MHMR of Tarrant County on the Texas Council of Community Centers.
Traveling to Austin with representatives of other mental health authorities statewide, he advocates for the needs of MHMR of Tarrant County by meeting with legislators or their staff and by testifying in front of congressional committees.
A particularly memorable effort came from the early 2000s, when the council lobbied against efforts to turn the work of the centers over to private insurance companies.
“I don’t know what impact my testimony had, but I know that the Texas Council was able to get that stopped,” he said.
He also previously served a term on what is now called the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, doing similar work in Washington, D.C., representing organizations in Texas and other nearby states.
For Brown, he is driven to volunteer because it allows him to make an impact beyond himself, he said.
“I think mainly that that’s kind of something that I can give back to the community and to those people who are the most vulnerable people in our state, our country,” Brown said.
McKinnon Rice is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Her position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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