Matthew and Megan Endowed Excellence Fund

A permanent endowed fund established within the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin that provides stipends to encourage students to do their internships in addiction and mental health and inspire them to pursue a career in the field after they graduate.

The internship is required to graduate with a Masters of Science Social Work (MSSW) and Bachelor Social Work (BSW). And, some students are only able to consider paid internships since they need to work to support themselves. They might not otherwise get exposed to the substance use disorder (SUD) field and will help increase understanding and healing for people struggling with addiction, recovery and mental health.

This fund will support addiction and recovery service projects in perpetuity which is what is needed since we know that winning this battle is a marathon, not a sprint. It will require long-term support to drive the change needed to end overdose deaths.

Essentially the endowment is providing stipends to students to encourage them to do their internships in the field of SUD/addiction/mental health, thus engaging young professionals on a lifelong career path working with people and addictions. The internship is required to get their Masters of Science Social Work (MSSW) and Bachelor Social Work (BSW). And, some students are only able to consider paid internships since they need to work to support themselves. And, they might not otherwise get exposed to the substance use disorder (SUD) field. The goal is to educate students on the multifaceted world of SUD/addiction so they go on to become advocates and work in the field to educate, change policies, decriminalize, etc to put an end to the overdose pandemic and make a positive difference in the world.

Take a look at the funds program.

Donate to the Megan and Matthew Szabo Endowed Excellence Fund.

Continually launch skilled people in the field in perpetuity to drive necessary change across all aspects:

Understanding: share your story & remove negative stigma
Awareness: educate students and families on the multifaceted world of SUD and increase understanding and healing for people struggling with addiction, recovery and mental health
Prevention (or Inclusion?): there are policy changes needed to force insurance to cover scientific based SUD treatment, police reform, FDA, harm reduction, etc