Come join us for the Personal Finance and Budgeting Workshop

Monday March 11th and Tuesday March 12th @ 5:30 p.m.

About us

About Us

The Morris County Collaborative is a non-profit organization dedicated to making Morris County a better place to live, work, learn, play, and pray.


In 2013, a small group of people met at the home of Dangerfield resident Margine Mims to begin building strategies to revitalize Morris County communities. Mrs. Mims has been an advocate for community well-being over the past 50 years and is passionate about youth development and education. Today, the collaborative has grown to 22 members representing five communities in Daingerfield, Omaha, Naples, Lone Star and Cason. In 2018, we formed a nonprofit and received a planning grant from the Hogg Foundation. The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health envisions a future in which all people of Texas thrive in communities that support mental health, health equity, and well-being.

What We Do

We support health and wellness, mental health, health equity, economic development, personal empowerment, and training and development. We accomplish our goals primarily through education while focusing on those who've been historically marginalized and excluded. To sustain our mission, we've developed partnerships with a cross-sector of industries that support and promote resilience in our community.

Old Woman Meditating

What is Resilience

The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress- such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences. (Hogg Foundation, 2018; & APA, n.d)

Why We Do It

Situated among beautiful lakes and rolling hills, folks in Morris County, Texas are like anyone else in any football towns across America. They live good lives, support their families and hope for the best, but we have an underlying issue with health.


In fact, in 2018, Morris County ranks next to the lowest among Texas counties when it comes to healthcare. Out of the 244 counties in the state recognized by the County Health Rankings,  Morris County came in at 242 because of our lack of resources. Only two counties ranked lower. Today, as of 2021, because of the work the Morris County Collaborative and our partners are engaged in, we now rank 219 out of 244. So, we are making progress!


But, we need to continue this progress. Many factors have led to the lower rankings. To name a few, about one out of every four children under age 18 lives in poverty. Also, only one mental health provider is available for every 1,000 people, and there’s only one doctor for every 6,000 residents. Additionally, the suicide rate is five points higher than average for the State of Texas. 


  • Morris County was once a thriving community before the local economy took a downturn. To a large degree, the downturn was a result of job losses from Lone Star Steel, which at one time employed over 7,000 people. Over a 30-year period, the people employed there dwindled to 700, and the plant is now closed permanently. The local economy suffered as businesses closed, the local hospital ceased operating, healthcare professionals left, and the residents moved elsewhere in search of opportunity. 


Unemployment then led to a lack of medical insurance and the inability to afford a visit to a doctor. These factors all contributed to a downward spiral into poverty and poor health.


This is something that we have to change -- but change does not happen without work, risk, and sacrifice. Our goals are to increase our health rankings and overall well-being. Morris County Collaborative has begun the work of building a healthier community -- together.

How you can help

We need the support of our community: leaders, businesses, organizations, schools and residents. According to our most recent survey undertaken to get to the root causes of our present conditions, the top needs of our community were jobs, recreation, and youth facilities; our community need jobs -- good paying jobs with insurance, the people in our community want places to go, recreation, good places to eat, and things to do.


We also need better and affordable housing, substance and opioid use prevention, substance abuse treatment and recovery services, criminal justice equality, public transportation, youth services and programs that advocate health and education systems like STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), gym and exercise facilities, and better access to medical treatment. The Morris County Collaborative is here is assist with making people's lives more meaningful. We need your help! Contact Us.

Reach out to help us today to learn more about our goals and help us reach them!

CONTACT US
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