Rewriting
Rural Mental
Health Care

Lacy Keith (BA 02, MA 12) moves through each day with the purpose of helping others. Whether it is being the safe place for someone in need, or moving mountains to get something done, Keith is always there for her family, friends, and community. Keith was born where the sunsets are golden and memories are stronger than roots, in the quiet, small town of Portales, New Mexico.

Portales is known for the way our community comes together in the most difficult times, and settling down here was an easy decision for Keith. She wanted to stay close to home and strengthen her connections within this place. She wanted to write herself into the story of our region.

Fascinated by the way the human brain grows, adapts, and functions, Keith discovered her passion for working in mental health when she took a high school psychology class, "it was interesting to learn about how we develop in society, interact with each other, and how we can either be swayed to support or oppose others," she said. She noticed how the subjects she learned in class played out in the real world. What she learned helped her understand the world more clearly.

“It was an amazing experience. I was able to meet new people and that helped me to feel supported in my pursuits. Belonging is an important basic need that humans have.”

Inspired, Keith pursued her bachelor's degree in both psychology and sociology at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). She figured out that her purpose was to help renew the lives of others by learning more about the brain and researching the ways that people feel a sense of belonging. Keith wanted to be there for others who were bettering their lives.

During her first year attending ENMU, many of her friends drifted in different directions. For Keith, college felt isolating, and from what she was learning, she knew that she needed to find community. When she wasn't sure where to go, she was led to the women's fraternity, Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA). For Keith, ZTA was the community she needed to get through college. "It was an amazing experience. I was able to meet new people and that helped me to feel supported in my pursuits," she reminisces, "belonging is an important basic need that humans have." Her feeling of belonging translated into the work she does now.

Finished with college and equipped with the confidence to start writing the new chapters of her story, Keith began working for Mental Health Resources (MHR) in Portales in 2007. As a case manager, Keith helped others rewrite their stories while drafting her own. She transformed into a space of belonging and understanding for clients who faced anxiety that disrupted their everyday lives. Although pages were damaged in her client's stories, Keith was the invitation for her clients to rewrite pages and change the trajectory of their story.

In the years between graduating and starting her master's degree, Keith faced deep tragedy losing her husband and her father within a few months of each other. This led her to go back to her found family at ENMU. While Keith worked hard for her degree, she balanced working full-time, attending night classes, taking care of her child, and continuing to connect with her community. Taking classes in person made Keith's classmates feel like family, and sharing a classroom with students from different countries allowed Keith to learn about diverse backgrounds and cultural experiences that expanded her thinking. Keith enjoyed the academic setting at Eastern, and the variety of teachers sharing their knowledge and clinical experience. "It was a supportive environment, and I felt like the professors at Eastern were cheering us on to success," she said. After a few years of hard work, in 2012, Keith received her master's degree in counseling, but she was inspired to keep learning. The book of her life was full of learning and dedication to bettering the lives of others.

“I felt like the professors at Eastern were cheering us on to success.”

Keith took on the role of therapist at MHR after receiving her degree. In this new chapter of her life, each new client was a fresh page in a story that embraced the torn edges of both her past and their past. Soon after becoming a therapist, Keith began as supervisor and clinical director, where she supported new clinical staff and the agency. In 2023, she began her second master's degree in healthcare management to better support the role she had taken on with the agency. She was helping others begin their new possibilities while continually creating her own.

Keith believes that she does not typically meet people when they are healthy; she meets them in the worn-down pages and exhaustive chapters that they are living in. To her, the struggle for mental health is no different than a broken bone. "I have told my clients over the years that they are the experts in their lives, I am just there to help them navigate things and to be an outside observer," Keith says, "if something is not feeling right, seek out treatment, ask for help, don't be afraid to treat your whole person." Sometimes, all we know about someone else's story is the cover they show to the world, and having people like Keith is a reminder that it's okay to rewrite pages in your own story.

Never judging anyone's story, Keith continues to create empowered community members through her work at MHR. Now, she is the first female CEO. A big part of what Keith does is behind the scenes, ensuring that the important regional organization remains financially solvent. She works with the MHR Board of Directors and Chief Financial Officer to protect the capacity and skills MHR has to continue the impact it makes in our community. By being the face of MHR, Keith is writing another book of experiences and worlds, and in this story, she is creating spaces where all the characters can feel like they belong. MHR serves five counties in New Mexico, Roosevelt, Curry, Quay, De Baca and Harding, and Keith works at the physical offices in Portales, Clovis, Fort Sumner and Tucumcari. By being present at city, county, and state meetings, she was able to establish May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness month in the Clovis City Commission, creating a world where everyone has the chance to be seen and heard. Keith continues to show her family, friends, and community that our region is worth writing stories about.

Sometimes, all we know about someone else’s story is the cover they show to the world, and having people like Keith is a reminder that it’s okay to rewrite pages in your own story.