Dr. Mercer's Investiture Ceremony

A few weeks ago, we finally got to officially celebrate the JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Family Foundation Chair that John Paul and Eloise funded in the midst of the pandemic. Our partner Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin held an Investiture Ceremony for Dr. Tim Mercer, the leader of the efforts to coordinate medical support for the unhoused in Austin. His care for others is as impressive as his bio, which we will just quote below. Thank you so much to Dr. Mercer, Dell Medical School and all the teams that work to provide care for our homeless neighbors.

Tim Mercer is the the inaugural holder of the JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Family Foundation Endowed Chair in the Department of Population Health. He is also a primary care physician for the Health Care for the Homeless program with CommUnityCare, Austin’s largest federally qualified health center.

Fundamentally, he is interested in solving health system challenges and promoting health through community-engaged scholarship and service to improve access, quality and equity in health for vulnerable populations globally and locally. In addition to his clinical practice, teaching and mentoring, he implements and evaluates health system and community-based programs and conducts implementation research. He has raised over $10 million in federal, corporate, foundation and philanthropic funding, serving as project director or principal investigator of multiple projects and partnerships to achieve these goals.

At Dell Med, Mercer leads the global health program, which aims to leverage the academic missions of service, education and research to improve health and advance health equity for vulnerable populations globally, while building interdisciplinary collaborations to address social and structural determinants of health, strengthen health systems and cultivate globally minded leaders. Under his leadership, Dell Med has joined the Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care (AMPATH) Consortium in Eldoret, Kenya. AMPATH is one of the world’s most successful academic global health programs, a 30-year-long academic partnership between Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Moi University School of Medicine in Kenya and a consortium of North American academic medical centers led by Indiana University.

Mercer also leads The University of Texas at Austin in the first replication effort of the AMPATH paradigm in partnership with Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) and the Mexican Ministry of Health to strengthen primary health care and address chronic diseases in low-income, rural communities in the State of Puebla, Mexico, and generate shared lessons for improving the health of populations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Locally, he leads a variety of efforts to enhance access to care and improve health outcomes among individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations. To this end, he is the director of the Mobile Medical and Mental Health Care Team, or M3 Team, which is an innovative, mobile, integrated care team that focuses on individuals with chronic homelessness and tri-morbid serious mental illnesses, substance use disorders and chronic medical conditions. He is also the co-principal investigator of a project using implementation science to scale up treatment for Hepatitis C among people experiencing homelessness. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has worked with a broad community coalition to lead a robust and effective response to address and prevent COVID-19 among individuals experiencing homelessness. More recently, he leads efforts at Dell Med alongside community health workers to increase access to COVID vaccinations for vulnerable populations, address social determinants of health and increase access to primary care.

Originally from Canada, Mercer moved to the U.S. at a young age and was raised in a small town in northeast Indiana. He went on to study biology and philosophy at Butler University and received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He earned a master’s degree in public health with a focus in social and behavioral sciences from the Yale School of Public Health and then completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at Duke University Medical Center. Following his training, and prior to joining the faculty at Dell Med, he served for two years as the medicine team leader for AMPATH, holding joint faculty positions in the departments of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University School of Medicine in Kenya.

He is an active participant in the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, the Society of General Internal Medicine and the Association of Chiefs and Leaders in General Internal Medicine — of which the latter he was selected as a scholar in the 2021-2022 cohort of the LEAD leadership development program. He also serves on the Austin Travis County EMS Advisory Board. He has won several teaching awards and has been recognized by Dell Med and the Travis County Medical Society for his community impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and two children, and he is an avid runner who loves food and enjoys traveling across three continents to spend time with extended family.

Keep Austin Fed Cold Storage

We were so thrilled to be at the grand opening of Keep Austin Fed’s cold storage space in East Austin! A partner for the last few years, Keep Austin Fed utilizes a network of volunteers to rescue food that would otherwise be wasted. They have wanted their own cold storage space for awhile, and we were so glad we could help contribute to making that dream a reality. It will store rescued produce from farms and even prepared meals from local restaurants and events until it can be donated to organizations and people in need. This is a critical step to helping ensure people don’t go hungry and food isn’t wasted. Thanks so much to Vesper/Vox Veniae for hosting the space, for City Council member Natasha Harper-Madison for her support at the event and for all the Keep Austin Fed team volunteers that help keep the whole thing running.

Salvation Army Day of Giving

If you know John Paul’s story you know that one of his first encounters with giving was with the Salvation Army. His mom was single and struggled to take care of him and his brother on her own, but she made sure that both boys gave - even coins - to the little red Salvation Army bucket. John Paul is a supporter of Austin’s Salvation Army efforts to house homeless families.

Salvation Army’s big Day of Giving was August 24, and we are thrilled to share that they surpassed their goal of $1 million in just 24 hours. Thank so much to Central Texas folks who gave!

The M/V John Paul DeJoria

John Paul has been a supporter of marine animal rights for decades, even protesting on ships to protect whales from slaughter. Since 2017, the M/V John Paul DeJoria has been a part of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fleet and used to patrol waters, protect the endangered vaquita and even offered hurricane relief to islanders. All good things, all good ships, must come to an end, and we are sad to announce that the ship is being retired, but we are so proud of all that it and the dedicated Sea Shepherd crews achieved in its lifetime.

Selfless Love Gala

Perhaps you recall John Paul’s role as a Shark on Shark Tank in 2013 … well, last weekend he reprised his role as a guest judge at Dream Tank — Selfless Love Foundation’s pitch competition for young people. The five finalists did so great that everyone went home with an award. In addition, John Paul and Eloise attended the 2022 Gala that helped raise more than $3.6 million for foster youth and their families.

John Paul on Ellen!

To start off her interview, Ellen said to John Paul, "You're one of the most inspirational people that I think I've ever been aware of." WHAT a compliment coming from the legendary talk show host who is ending her show’s epic run this month. John Paul talked about going from living in his car to being an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and why he gives back:

“If you give to somebody else and ask absolutely nothing in return, it’s the greatest high you’ll ever have in your life.”

John Paul also talked about his new show Success of Unusual People! More about that soon!

Thanks so much Ellen for this interview and for years of focusing on kindness and giving back ☮️❤️😀

Meeting House at Patriots' Hall

At the Grand Opening of the Meeting House at Patriots’ Hall of Dripping Springs last week, John Paul reminisced about his time in the Navy on the USS Hornet. He talked about lessons he learned in the military and how people put faith in him as a young seaman in a way that made him believe he was capable. He talked about how important it is to care for those who have served defending our country. We then got to meet other servicemen and women in Central Texas who are helping build the community that will make Patriots’ Hall a place for veterans of all military branches to gather with their families.

The visit also got us excited for the rest of the property. The meeting hall John Paul donated will be home to VFW Post 2933 and other gatherings, but there is a larger meeting hall on the way as well as a wellness clinic and plans for a garden and equine therapy.

We are so glad these vets now have a place to gather and call their own. And thanks so much to all the other supporters and in-kind donors who helped make this space a reality!

John Paul on CBS Austin

It was such a fun day at Mobile Loaves and Fishes yesterday celebrating our almost 10 year relationship and our $5 million commitment to the future phases of Community First! Village. There was a birthday cake for John Paul, storytelling from MLF founder Alan Graham and a visit to the art house. After John Paul told the story of how he was homeless when he was starting Paul Mitchell, one of the staff asked him if he could remember how he felt the first night he slept in his car. “Lonely,” he said. “I was very lonely. And uncomfortable.” He went on to say that he understands how it is to be homeless, but he always tries to see the good as well. “When you’re that low, there’s nowhere you can look but up.” We are looking up and forward to seeing future residents find their way home and their way out of homelessness.

CBS Austin was there to capture the day, and you can watch it now!