Local church leaders are taking action to address a growing mental health crisis in their community with the launch of the first-ever Hope Fest.
The Ministerial Alliance of Ingleside and Aransas Pass is hosting the free event Saturday, Sept. 13, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Aransas Pass Civic Center. The alliance, made up of seven to eight different churches, created the event in response to concerning suicide statistics in San Patricio County.
"Looking deeper we saw an issue in the suicide rate of our communities," said David Dear, senior pastor and member of the ministerial alliance.
According to Dear, the suicide rate in San Patricio County is 16 per 100,000 people — higher than the state average of 14 per 100,000. USA Facts shows the suicide rate in Texas has increased by 29.7% over the past 20 years, with data last updated in 2024.
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Visit the We Care website here
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Dear believes recent challenges have contributed to the community's struggles.
"In the last eight years, we suffered a major hurricane when Harvey hit, devastating Rockport, Aransas Pass, and Ingleside, and it took a while to recover from that, and then by the time we're recovering, we're hit with COVID," Dear said.
"It caused a lot of separation and anxiety and desperation," he said.
The ministerial alliance's mission is to help fill the needs of the community, and Hope Fest represents a long-term commitment to mental health support.
"We call this effort, it's a long-term effort called We Care Hope Fest, which is the event that's happening on Saturday, the 13th, but because we care, it's gonna be ongoing," Dear said.
Lewis Cowan, an Ingleside resident who helped organize the inaugural Hope Fest, said the event addresses a critical need in the community.
"People are facing sorrow and in their sorrow, they need to know that there is a hope," Cowan said.
So far, 1,100 people have purchased tickets to the free event, according to Cowan.
"We have a licensed professional counselor that will be there and she has gone through the trouble of putting together some flyers that we're going to communicate and distribute the flyers on mental health resources in this area," Cowan said.
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