Mental Health PlaybookGive an Hour
- Geographic Focus: National
- Mission: To develop resilient individuals and communities and grow our social impact through responsive, scalable, individualized mental health programs aimed at closing access and delivery gaps to mental health care.
- People Served: Veterans, service members, survivors of crime and violence, individuals with rare diseases and members of the civilian and care-giving workforce
- Operating Budget: $2.1 million
- Focus Areas and Core Competencies:
- To expand access to trauma-informed mental health care through a national network of clinicians and trained peers, integrating clinical matching, peer support and education to address the lasting impact of human-made trauma and foster long-term well-being.
Impact Statement
Give an Hour’s national mental health programs have delivered over 500,000 hours of clinical care, impacted more than eight million individuals through peer support, education and outreach and is on track to build a 50,000-strong network of mental health champions, impacting 12 million lives by 2030.
A Conversation with Dr. Trina Clayeux, CEO of Give an Hour
Q: What is the mission of your organization? What specific areas related to mental health challenges is your nonprofit working to solve?
Give an Hour (GAH) exists to strengthen individuals and communities by delivering practical and personalized mental health support that meets people where they are. Our programs are responsive and scalable, designed to close gaps in care for those who too often encounter barriers to traditional services. We ensure access to tools that help people thrive without stigma, delay or unnecessary obstacles.
Our vision is a society where every person has the support to take charge of their mental health. Achieving this requires more than expanding services. It requires reshaping how we view mental health by shifting from a crisis-driven, diagnosis-first model to one that is preventive, and rooted in community.
We bring this vision to life through three pathways: clinical care provided by a national network of trauma-informed volunteer clinicians, peer support groups that harness the power of shared experience to reduce isolation and build belonging and education and workforce training that embeds mental health literacy into daily environments.
Together, these efforts activate a movement that empowers every person to be part of the solution by creating stronger, more resilient communities.
Q: How do you describe the big goals your organization is working to achieve? How do you measure impact?
GAH is advancing a bold vision for mental health through three measurable goals. First, we are building a 50,000-strong national provider network of licensed clinicians, trained peer supporters and wellness ambassadors to deliver timely, trauma-informed care nationwide. Second, through our integrated model of clinical matching, peer support and education, we aim to directly serve four million people and extend impact to twelve million through a multiplier effect. Third, GAH is establishing itself as the nation’s premier organization for human-made trauma, leading scalable programs that foster healing.
To measure progress, we employ our Customer First Measurement™ system, a real-time, person-centered feedback approach that tracks change in transformation and empowerment. This system evaluates improvements in behavior, confidence and hope while ensuring participants see their voices reflected through close-the-loop communication.
GAH also aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Suicide Prevention Resource for Action standards, applying multi-level outcomes to guide continuous improvement and evidence-based prevention strategies. Through learning collaboratives and transparent impact communication, we transform evaluation into driver of systems change and a storytelling tool that advances mental health for all.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges the organization has experienced working to accomplish its mission? How did your organization overcome those challenges?
One of our greatest challenges has been the growing complexity of mental health needs across diverse populations, coupled with the limitations of traditional care models. While GAH was founded on the strength of pro bono clinical care, it became clear that clinical matching alone could not address the gaps in access and prevention.
In response, we transformed into a three-pronged organization offering clinical matching, nonclinical peer support, and customized education and training. This required reengineering our infrastructure, reskilling our team and diversifying our funding model to better serve individuals often overlooked by conventional systems.
We see persistent challenges in populations with complex lived experiences: service members and veterans navigating bureaucracy and medication-first care, rare disease caregivers carrying invisible burdens, justice-impacted job seekers cycling through systems not designed for reintegration and survivors of financial fraud whose trauma is often dismissed. We also see it across the workforce, where disillusionment and exhaustion threaten well-being.
GAH has responded by designing tailored, trauma-informed programs such as Military Mile, Rare Collective, Rise and Rebuild and Financial Fraud Fallout. Each elevates peer leadership, prevention and lived experience as core to care. To scale this work, we launched a Continuing Education (CE)-to-micro credentialing pathway, equipping both clinical and nonclinical providers to meet people where they are.
We pair these efforts with rigorous measurement, tracking not only attendance or completion but shifts in hope, belonging and confidence. Our Customer First Measurement framework ensures accountability to those we serve, not just the systems we work within.
Today, GAH is a more adaptive, resilient organization and one that turns challenge into innovation and delivers measurable impact in empowerment, connection and healing.
Q: What are your organization’s biggest needs? How can philanthropists help your organization achieve its goals?
At GAH, we are building mental health infrastructure that traditional systems often overlook that is rooted in prevention, peer connection and person-centered care, with clinical support and ongoing investment in the workforce at its foundation. To scale what works and drive sustainable change, we need transformative philanthropic support in three key areas.
Program Expansion and Community Capacity: We aim to replicate high-impact projects in priority communities, expand education and training for direct service providers and support individuals with lived experience to lead peer groups and serve as trusted bridges to care.
Workforce Development and Credentialing: We are growing our CE-to-microcredentialing pathway to equip thousands with the skills, cultural intelligence and supervision needed to expand access to care. Philanthropic investment can underwrite training, validation studies and scalable supervision models that strengthen the workforce pipeline.
Sustainability through Systems Change: To embed these solutions into mainstream care, we are piloting public-private partnerships and demonstration projects that show peer support and customized care are cost-effective, replicable alternatives to crisis-driven models. Joining our Learning Collaborative will allow visionary partners to help shape a more responsive, person-centered mental health system.
Q: Beyond the organization, where should philanthropists who care about advancing knowledge related to improving mental health invest their charitable dollars?
We believe that philanthropy can play a catalytic role in strengthening key levers within the mental health ecosystem to achieve greater impact. For example, investments in workforce development and in scalable, practical access solutions could significantly expand the reach and quality of care for those in need. Strengthening research partnerships represents another critical opportunity, ensuring that data and social impact inform one another and generate actionable findings for practice.
Philanthropists can also help advance flexible, skills-based credentialing pathways—such as micro-credentialing, continuing education and recognition of lived experience—to prepare both clinical and nonclinical professionals for the future of care delivery. Equally important are initiatives that integrate mental health services with housing, legal and employment supports, creating holistic and replicable models that reach underserved populations.
Finally, reducing barriers to licensure through clinical hour stipends, paid supervision, equitable exam preparation and reciprocity agreements would help ensure that clinicians are able to practice where demand is greatest.
Contact Our Team
Contact the Roundtable’s Programs team to learn more about this investment opportunity.