Victor I. Howery Memorial Award

The “Victor I. Howery Memorial Award” is given for significant contributions to the field of rural mental health.

 

This year’s recipient is David Weden. David Weden has dedicated more than three decades to advancing behavioral health services and strengthening access to care for individuals living in rural communities. Throughout his career, he has served in executive leadership roles within community mental health systems across Texas, including sixteen years with Hill Country MHDD Centers, where he helped lead services across a vast 22,000-square-mile rural region. His work has consistently focused on ensuring that rural residents have access to high-quality, sustainable mental health services regardless of geography. Through innovative financing strategies, system redesign efforts, and advocacy for community-based care, David has helped shape programs that improve outcomes for some of the most underserved populations in the country.

 

David's influence extends well beyond Texas. As Chief of System Finance for the Texas Council of Community Centers and his ongoing commitment to NACBHDD, he has played a significant role in advancing behavioral health policy and financing initiatives, including efforts related to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics and the expansion of community-based systems of care. His leadership has helped organizations navigate complex healthcare reforms while maintaining a steadfast commitment to the needs of rural communities.

 

Equally important has been David's longstanding commitment to the National Association for Rural Mental Health. Since joining the NARMH Board in 2013, he has served in numerous leadership capacities, lending his expertise, vision, and unwavering advocacy to the organization's mission. His ability to bring together policymakers, providers, and rural stakeholders has strengthened NARMH's voice on national issues affecting rural behavioral health. Colleagues across the country know David as a thoughtful leader, mentor, and champion for rural mental health whose work exemplifies the values of service, innovation, and collaboration.

 

The Victor Howery Award recognizes individuals whose leadership and dedication have made a lasting impact on rural mental health. David Weden embodies that legacy through his lifelong commitment to improving behavioral health services, advancing rural systems of care, and elevating the voices of rural communities across America. NARMH is proud to honor David for his extraordinary contributions and enduring service to the field of rural mental health.

 

Going to Bat Awards

The “Going to Bat Award” is given to an individual for advocacy in the area of rural mental health above and beyond the call of duty. It is given to an individual who has consistently advocated (supported, promoted, stood up for, championed, defended, made room for, protected, etc.) for rural mental health beyond what are their normal job responsibilities. This year NARMH is giving two Going to Bat Awards.

 

Carol Kane is receiving the Going to Bat Award for decades of advocacy for neglected and disempowered people. She helped establish and support Oxford Houses in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, including five new homes in Las Cruces. Her service also spans prison ministry and counseling in Seattle, books for incarcerated people in Tucson, and crucial early funding and board leadership for the New Mexico Innocence and Justice Project. Her commitment began with a food co-op on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in 1972.

 

Steve Miccio is receiving the Going to Bat Award for more than two decades of advocacy and systems leadership that placed peer support and lived experience at the center of crisis care. Through peer-operated respite, crisis stabilization, and diversion programs, he has created more humane, recovery-focused alternatives to hospitalization and incarceration.

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Eliza T. Williamson is receiving the Going to Bat Award for her determined advocacy to strengthen mental health access for rural and geographically isolated communities with her influence through NAMI nationally. Through her leadership at NAMI Massachusetts, she has advanced peer and family education, statewide navigation, lived-experience leadership, and stigma reduction—helping people and families far from traditional service hubs find connection, dignity, and hope.

 

Peter G. Beeson Rural Arts Award

The National Association for Rural Mental Health established the Rural Arts Award in 2007 to honor the life-long contributions of Peter G. (Pete) Beeson to both rural mental health and the rural arts. Pete is recognized within the association for his masterful writing about rural life and his beautiful photography both of which have graced the pages of many NARMH publications.

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Ricardo Caté is receiving the Peter G. Beeson Rural Arts Award for using humor and visual storytelling to elevate Native perspectives and strengthen community well-being. Through his comic strip Without Reservations and his work as a teacher and mentor, he opens difficult conversations, affirms cultural identity, and fosters understanding and resilience.

 

Ann Schumacher Rural Clinic Practice Award

The Ann Schumacher Award is presented annually to an experienced practitioner who has demonstrated excellence, innovation, professional development and who has worked with domestic violence.

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This year’s award winner is Dr. Rupi Legha. Dr. Rupi Legha is receiving the Ann Schumacher Rural Clinical Practice Award for excellence and innovation in antiracist, trauma-informed, and equity-centered psychiatric care. By integrating direct care with clinician training, scholarship, and advocacy, she is helping transform mental health practice toward models that reduce systemic harm, protect dignity, and promote healing.