After 10 Years, Foundation 45 Rebrands as Amplified Minds

Foundation 45 was created after the death of Frankie Campagna, frontman of Dallas punk trio Spector 45, who took his own life shortly after headlining a show on New Year’s Eve in 2011. Just a few months later, the band’s bassist Adam Carter died of an apparent suicide.

The core of Foundation 45 began as a small support group for those grieving the loss of Campagna and Carter but grew to become a force of stability and comfort for artists and DFW. After being officially founded in 2014, the nonprofit has offered free crisis counseling and support groups and has put together a number of free charity events over its 10-year history.

Earlier this week, Foundation 45 announced it would be rebranding to Amplified Minds and expanding its services to include six unique support programs. Group therapy sessions will continue, but the organization will also include individual therapy and art therapy.

“We wanted to create a diversity program as well as provide individual counseling,” says Lauren O’Connor, president of Amplified Minds. “We wanted to have a new look and thought it was the perfect time to do that at a decade. Amplified Minds really does speak to all of that.”

O’Connor became president of Foundation 45 in 2018.

“I’ve always had a vision to expand this to help as many people as we can,” she says. “Texas is currently last in access to mental health resources, and people are struggling right now.”

She’s citing a recent Forbes study that found our state to have the second highest percentage of adults with a mental illness who are uninsured (21.4%) and of youths with depression who do not receive mental health services (74.9%). The study also found that more than half of adults with mental illness in Texas do not receive any treatment at all.

With some of the newly introduced programs, Amplified Minds hopes to help the underserved in Texas.

As for the individual crisis counseling sessions, the organization will cover four sessions with one of their own counseling staff and then offer to set up a long-term plan. In addition, Amplified Minds is offering three specialized programs: Remix Recovery, Beyond the Binary and Amplified Voices.

“Our groups are led by licensed professional counselors,” says Lauren O’Connor, president of Amplified Minds. “The communities are getting quality care.”

In Remix Recovery, counselors focus on substance use and addition through a small curriculum and coursework that culminates in weekly support group meetings. Remix Recovery is led by Amanda Burris, who has a Master’s in professional counseling and is a licensed chemical dependency counselor.

Beyond the Binary is designed for the LGBTQIA+ community. Led by counselor Joseph Massey, the group embraces a “queer affirmative approach to mental health,” with topics such as managing family and social relations, understanding gender identity and sexual health.

Amplified Voices also serves members of the LGBT community, but with a broader angle that includes people of color and “others facing barriers to support and representation. The dynamic program meets through a series of support groups, workshops and creative classes.

Each program is free, made possible through donations, volunteering and benefit events that go toward Amplified Minds.