POTEET, Texas — Poteet, Texas is a land rich in agriculture. The city's annual festival promotes Poteet's premier strawberries, now an endangered crop.
The city, 45 minutes south of San Antonio, is also known as a desert — not for what grows from the ground, but what nourishes the community's mental health.
Now, a new addition is changing that: Poteet ISD's Mental Health Center.
The visionaries behind the idea say it's a long time coming. The new mental health space found its home inside the old boys' locker room.
Michele Lozano, Director of Counseling and Mental Health Services and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Supervisor at Poteet ISD, knows what it feels like for a traumatic experience to be ignored.
"When I was a junior in high school, one of my friends died by suicide," she said. "I remember we didn't talk about it. Even after he died, no counselors ever came to talk to us and we never got to process that."
A framed note from her high school classmate now sits in her office.
Since then, it's been Lozano's passion to prevent other students from having a similar experience. Her vision came to life Thursday with the opening of their new mental health wing on Poteet ISD's first day of class.
"We can have kids really experience a therapeutic environment. It takes them out of the chaos at school," said Lozano.
Right now, between 1,800 and 2,000 students are enrolled in Poteet ISD — the number grows every year.
"We live in a resource desert, so we work really closely with Camino Real, our mental health authority, but they can't carry it all," Lozano explained. "I had seen the Care Zone in different organizations within San Antonio that were building mental health clinics inside their schools. That's when my wheels started turning. I said, 'I want something like that! I don't know how I'll get that, but I'd like to have something like that!'"
Following the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Lozano went with fellow Poteet ISD Mental Health Counselor, Allison MacMaster, to provide therapy services to the children there.
"Especially with what happened after Uvalde, we've just really realized how important it is to really be here for our kids," said Lozano. "When we came back, that lit our fire even more that we wanted to make something here for our kids to feel safe."
With support from Poteet ISD's superintendent, Lozano's vision became a reality.
The timing was critical, too. There's a high rate of self-harm among students in Poteet, Lozano shared, especially after COVID.
"We had a lot of students experiencing anxiety, trauma, lots of loss of parents. We have a very high population of grandparents raising kids here. So we had a lot of parental loss," she explained. "We do see a lot of [self-harm], but we're able to intervene before it gets to that point where it's too late and we can't go back from a student who unfortunately has made that decision to take their life. So we're trying to intervene before those things happen."
As the doors opened on Poteet ISD's first day of school Thursday, barriers shattered.
"I think it really revolutionizes the way we can see mental health care for youth specifically," said MacMaster.
MacMaster says she used to roll her supply cart around the district to meet with students.
"Conference rooms or classrooms or breakrooms. We didn't have a consistent place where we could see our kids," said MacMaster.
Now, there's a space where any student in Poteet ISD can get free therapy services immediately. Inside the Mental Health Center, a common area has bean bags, toys and stuffed animals in a corner surrounded by bookshelves. A large television sits in the center of the room in front of a large table and chairs. A private room with comfortable couches and chairs is nearby, similar to what one would experience in a private practice. The environment is warm, welcoming, colorful and bright.
The district also provided the center with its own vehicle to take students to and from their appointments.
Before the center opened, parents or guardians would have to find time to drive out of town for an appointment, or they'd have to wait.
"They might be on a wait list for two, three, four months, maybe sometimes longer. If they're in a crisis state, that's not gonna work," MacMaster explained. "There might be telehealth services, but not everyone has internet."
From a changing room to a life-changing room, 10 mental health and school counselors are creating an oasis in a desert.
The goal is to expand mental health care in the district with more licensed professional counselors. MacMaster says the student referrals are coming in already.
"It feels like a lot of hard work and crazy moments over these last few years have really paid off. I'm just so honored to be a part of it," said MacMaster.
Along with the counselors, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other staff members in Poteet ISD are trained in Youth Mental Health First-Aid. Each person is able to identify signs and symptoms of a distressed student and they're able to point the student to suicide prevention programs for help.
In addition to more staff, the ability to provide long-term care is part of the vision for the center. Should a student need higher-level care in a hospital, Poteet ISD's counselors will be available after to continue mental health services. When students reach an adult age, perhaps they'll feel more comfortable reaching out for help thanks to their experience in Poteet ISD.
"If students aren't functioning well mentally, it's hard for them to succeed academically," Lozano added. "I'm really proud of the team that we've built here."