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Sims Foundation marks 30 years; CEO outlines mental-health, recovery services for Austin music community
Summary
Sims Foundation CEO Derek Lesnow described the nonprofit’s history, service model, geographic reach and plans for a May 18 public celebration during the Music Commission meeting.
Derek Lesnow, CEO of the Sims Foundation, briefed the commission on the nonprofit’s 30th anniversary, its services for musicians and music industry professionals, and plans for a public commemoration in May.
Lesnow said Sims Foundation was established in 1995 after the death of musician Sims Ellison and that the nonprofit’s work connects musicians and their dependents to mental-health and recovery services through a private provider network. He said the program uses case management to link clients with a local network of clinicians who offer discounted rates for music-industry clients and that the organization provides educational workshops, including a recent recovery-101 session held with Travis County that distributed free Narcan.
Lesnow provided impact figures: over the last 30 years the foundation has served roughly 25,000 people, facilitated more than 300,000 counseling sessions through partner providers and invested more than $50 million in health-care resources for the music community. He said Sims currently serves seven Central Texas counties and is considering ways to expand services to other cities in Texas.
Lesnow said Sims is addressing a service interruption that affected about 500 people last year; staff are contacting impacted clients and expect outreach to be complete by the end of the month, after which the foundation will work down wait lists and aims to remove the wait-list status within 90 days of first contact.
The foundation plans a public, family-friendly thirtieth-anniversary celebration on May 18 at Empire (3–9 p.m.), which will include about 11–12 acts and a city proclamation; Lesnow said the event is partially supported by an Elevate grant. He also said Sims has secured recognition from the governor’s office.
Why it matters: Sims Foundation provides a long-standing mental-health and recovery safety net for musicians and their families in Central Texas; the organization’s recovery resources, provider network and outreach affect the health and career sustainability of Austin’s music workforce.
Ending: Commissioners thanked Lesnow and acknowledged Sims Foundation’s role in Austin’s music ecosystem; Lesnow said the foundation plans to publish details about the May 18 celebration and continues outreach to affected clients.
