Our Work
Offers the difference
With nature as our greatest resource and guide, The Greater Mercy Foundation (TGMF) provides educational, experiential, and transformational opportunities for the mind, body, and spirit. In partnership and collaboration with our community, we provide services that support mental wellbeing and cultivate courageous leaders.
Particularly in the last several years, our world often feels tumultuous and unpredictable, leaving many without balance or direction. As we work to support the wellbeing of others, we have experienced our own transformation in terms of how we deliver those services to the community. With the guidance of our Wisdom Circles, we are thoughtfully creating projects to effectively meet the evolving mental health and leadership needs of our community.
With a focus on mental health and wellness, we provide support to our school community and the community at-large. We offer the difference, meeting the needs and filling the gaps in services and systems so that there is more balance and stability during this time of great transition and transformation. The Greater Mercy Foundation projects:
Provide wellness services for educators and students
Connect adults, youth, and children with mental health professionals and services
Offer mental health professionals opportunities for supervision and development
Our projects derive organically, developing most often because of a direct request and expressed need. Some of our projects are identified when gaps in our structures and systems that have been stretched beyond their capacity create imbalance and undesirable symptoms such as professional burnout and stress or high levels of anxiety and depression. We honor requests with deep listening, curious questions, and thoughtful co-created projects. We do this through gatherings we call Wisdom Circles. These gatherings of stakeholders are conversations and explorations of what might bring back into balance what has become imbalanced and disconnected.
Our work depends upon and engages partnships that are mutually beneficial, and our projects serve as fertile ground for the development of new structures and systems that reflect our interdependence with the natural world and each other. We work with individuals and organizations in our community who share values and visions for a more balanced, connected, and thriving community. We look for ways to work within networks and relationships that value reciprocity and wellbeing of all including our natural environment.
Current Projects
Yoga for Educators
To the educators, faculty, and staff of WISD: We hear you, and we want to meet your need and request for more balance and wellness. Thank you for all your hard work on behalf of so many children and youth. The Greater Mercy Foundation honors you with a response from a network of collaborators including WISD School Health Advisory Counsel, The Wellness Center Coordinator, The Watershed Association, local yoga teachers, and Wimberley Education Foundation.
The Greater Mercy Foundation will host yoga classes at the future site for the Watershed Association’s FLOW Center (For the Love Of Water) at Oaks at Blue Hole 501 Old Kyle Rd. Yoga classes will occur in the large sanctuary space at the front of the property closest to Old Kyle Road. Classes will occur once a week, Wednesdays from 4:15-5:15 pm starting September 13, 2023 through May 1, 2024 (no classes the week of Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, or Spring Break week). Other adult community members (non-educators) are welcome to participate in these yoga classes on a donation fee-basis.
Return to Nature
John Knox Ranch, our host and partner, helps make nature experiences, discovery, and learning possible for Kindergareten through 12th grade students attending Wimberley ISD. Once a semester, students visit John Knox Ranch campus to engage with nature and each other on the outdoor campus of John Knox Ranch. Students learn about the natural world and their place in it through various activities like canoeing, hiking, and being among the trees and waterways of the 300 acre property.
Community Connections
Are you looking for a therapist, healer, educator? Are you a therapist, healer, or educator looking to connect with others professionally? It is part of our mission to develop community and create connections. If you or someone you care for is in need of therapy, counseling, body or energy work, educational support, please give us a call. We are here to connect you with local providers that best meet your specific circumstances. We also aim to establish a deep professional network so that together we can support each other and make the best referrals for clients or potential clients. Call us.
Developing Projects
wisdom circles
We have inspired young girls to lead through after school yoga programs. We have helped establish a wellness center on the campus of a high school. We have guided student leaders to help provide mental health support for their peers. We offer grief and loss training for parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, and others who want to show up to effectively support people struggling with big change and grief. We provide regular referrals to local mental health services, putting people in touch with compassionate providers who meet their needs.
As we enter this next phase of our work, we want to expand our circle of understanding. The community vision is being shaped by intergenerational gatherings, thoughtful voices, and deep listening. If you are interested in participating in our Wisdom Circles, please contact us.
