former professional boxer fights against mental health stigma.

Derrick James has spent most of his life in a boxing ring — first as a professional boxer and now trainer.

He’s a two-time winner of the Texas Golden Gloves and was the Boxing Writers Association of America’s (BWAA) and ESPN’s Trainer of the Year in 2022.

He’s also a Dallas native who grew up in the city’s southern Oak Cliff neighborhood just across the Trinity River from downtown. There, he found a childhood haven at the Oak Cliff Boys and Girls Club, where he honed his boxing skills and was invited to fights all over the world. 

For 15 years, Derrick volunteered at the club that gave him his start and in other community service projects. Last year, Derrick and his wife, Tish, formalized his efforts and established the Derrick James Family Foundation with a mission to give back to their Oak Cliff community, including supporting neighborhood kids’ mental health needs.

“We want kids to know that whatever they’re feeling is valid. We have to give them tools for how to manage that,” Tish said.

A couple years ago, Children’s Health℠ collaborated with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to launch a community-based pediatric mental health initiative to change the way we identify and address these concerns among kids in the Dallas area. That commitment transformed into a vision and, with investments from the community, has become a reality.

The Behavioral Health Integration and Guidance (BHIG) initiative is an innovative way to address the growing pediatric mental health problem in North Texas by training, equipping and supporting community pediatricians to identify and address the majority of mental and behavioral health concerns among their patients.

In 2023, the Derrick James Family Foundation established a $50,000 endowment to the BHIG initiative as a way to give back to their community for generations to come.

Tish is a former school counselor who is passionate about access to mental health care for kids. “It’s transformative,” she said. “You want to address any mental health needs while they’re young, so they have the opportunity to thrive as adults. And just like getting an annual check-up at the doctor, that’s how we should view mental health care — preventative care without a stigma.”

Tish’s passion for mental health care and Derrick’s love for the Oak Cliff community, particularly those who are underserved and underinsured, compelled them to make a gift to Children’s Health, especially as the health care system works to provide highly-specialized care closer to home for children in south Dallas.

The North Texas pediatric population is expected to increase to 5 million by 2050, and Children’s Health is committed to growing with its community. In addition to plans for a new pediatric hospital campus in Dallas — a joint project with UT Southwestern Medical Center — Children’s Health is expanding its care with several other facility projects. This includes an initiative with UT Southwestern to broaden health care access in southern Dallas, specifically in the RedBird community located in Oak Cliff. The Reimagine RedBird development scheduled to open next year will include a Children’s Health PM Pediatric Urgent Care, primary care, integrated behavioral health care and more.

“Building another facility in Oak Cliff, which will serve those who really don’t have a way to get to Children’s Medical Center Dallas, is beautiful, and they can get the help they need,” Derrick said.

Philanthropic gifts like the Derrick James Family Foundation’s will continue to be essential to support mental health care access for more kids in North Texas.

The provider training supported by the impactful work of the BHIG initiative is already leading large-scale improvements in mental health care for children and youth in North Texas. Outstanding progress has been made since the program’s launch in 2022 with provider participation that has expanded mental health services to more than 200,000 families.

This initiative also has garnered national attention, awarding Children’s Health the Texas Hospital Association (THA) Excellence in Community Service Award and naming the hospital in Fast Company’s Most Innovative list for our BHIG initiative.

Derrick and Tish hope their gift will continue to help expand access to mental health care for children and their families, especially increasing support and education to destigmatize mental health services for minority communities.

One of Derrick’s favorite quotes is from Muhammad Ali who said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Derrick said he knows what he owes to his community, and that’s why he gives back.