Mental Drive, Inc. moves past the starting line in helping local community members with essential items and services
Ryder Ortowski, Executive Director of nonprofit Mental Drive, Inc., started the charity three years ago with the help of his wife, Laura Ortowski, to help pay for services its clients need. This can include covering mental health visits, medication, replacing broken appliances, paying a month’s rent, a utility bill or by providing a vehicle.
By Kristina Kardum | Dec. 8, 2025
The spirit of the holiday season filled the coffee shop’s lower floor. Christmas decorations and books garnished its front window. Small square and round coffee tables lined the walls and center of the room. Floor-to-ceiling columns mimicked candy canes with red streamers wound around them, and framed the center of the open, wooden floor.
Upstairs in the back corner of the Collinsville, Texas coffee shop, Apologetics Coffee and Coins, is a room that serves as the office of operations for the nonprofit organization, Mental Drive, Inc. It’s a cozy room with a couch, a desk and even sound-proof boards. The desk is home to a desktop monitor, laptop and sound equipment. A wax melt’s aroma, with hints of spice, fills the office and a corner-positioned heater kicks up the heat.
Settled on the couch are the operators of Mental Drive, Inc., a husband and wife team, Ryder Ortowski and Laura Ortowski.
Mental Drive combines the appreciation of cars and the car community to build awareness of the nonprofit and how it helps community members. By attending car shows and even hosting car events, Mental Drive creates awareness of the nonprofit’s mission to support people facing mental health challenges. The nonprofit also uses these events to build connections and gain donation resources for clients’ needs.
Ryder says the inspiration to start Mental Drive was driven by his own experiences with donating to nonprofits.
“It was my vision, and Laura has been part of it since day one,” Ryder says. “I started it because, to be honest, I got tired of donating to nonprofits and finding out they’re giving away 10% to 20% of what they bring in.
“And men don’t talk about mental health very much, well not like women do, so I wanted to do a mental health nonprofit, and cars just seemed to be the perfect fit,” he continues. “That’s why we started Mental Drive. It’s car focused. Whenever I want to get rid of my anxiety, I go for a ride or a drive — cars, motorcycles, whatever.”
Mental Drive runs on donations. Ryder and Laura often attend car shows and have hosted a few as well. But the couple says it’s a lot of work. It’s taking time to build connections and resources in the early stages of the nonprofit’s growth.
Mental Drive doesn’t yet have steady donors but has received donations and Ryder and Laura have met many wonderful people since it started. Ryder and Laura made some good connections at the last two car shows they attended —The CBK Show at Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas and the GT-R Festival at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas, both in November 2025.
In the last three years, Mental Drive has helped approximately 30 families, Ryder says, and is currently working to help another five. One of them needs rent and another needs a vehicle.
“The harder things to get,” Laura adds.
Client needs like paying for missed rent or finding a reliable vehicle are costly and raising enough money takes time.
But Ryder and Laura continue to work to make it easier for those in need to reach out.
“We have a place on the website where somebody can refer someone,” Laura says. “The bulk of [our referrals come from Texhoma Community Center], having their own patients and knowing what they need.
“If someone knows someone that is going through a hard time, they can fill that form out and we’ll reach out.”
For 2025, World Population Review reported that 17.96% of Texas state’s population struggled with some form of mental health issue. Compared to all other US states, Texas was relatively low on its measuring scale. However, at the Texas state level, residents in 246 counties out of 254 live in areas with professional mental health disparities. There are only 10 available psychiatrists for every 100,000 school children. Adults with insurance are more likely to be pushed out of network from mental health care before primary care. Mental health issues affect several Texans with them reporting depression, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, suicidal ideation, eating disorders and other problems.
“We have mental health operation’s like TCC [for referrals],” Ryder says. “In the future, we want the mental health authorities to reach out to us. There are three [guidelines] we have. You’ve got to be honest, you’ve got to have a plan, and you’ve got to be actively working on yourself.”
By keeping the nonprofits guidelines to a few steps, people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed to reach out for help or even ask for community resources to help activate their plan.
“We set up the nonprofit so that it’s vague enough that we can help any type of mental health situation,” he says. “So even if it’s that dad living paycheck to paycheck and the fridge goes out (and they have $300 worth of food in there) … that anxiety can lead to depression and into suicidal [ideation] quicker — so we’ll buy a fridge.
“We’ll pay directly to the facility that’s selling it,” Ryder explains. “We’ve paid for medications. We pay directly so the donors know that their money is going directly to impact someone’s life.”
Ryder has checked into grant funding for Mental Drive but doesn’t want funds to be limited or directed as to how to use the funds. Right now, Mental Drive relies solely on donations. Mental Drive once applied for a grant but was stipulated to use it for urban populations. Ryder says he turned it down. He won’t discriminate against anyone when it comes to helping them.
Mental Drive has grown in the last two years and this year alone they have increased connections and opened more doors. Attending car shows, handing out cards and brochures has spread awareness. Laura handles social media accounts and constantly shares information.
“She takes care of all of it and she’s the whole reason people even show up,” Ryder says.
Laura says it can take a lot of time to promote the nonprofit through multiple social media channels. It’s a job all by itself creating posts, making connections and creating awareness.
“Because we’re still so small and nobody knows our name, you know,” Laura says. “That’s why were trying to slow down from [hosting] car shows because there’s a lot of time and not too much outcome from it.”
If a client needs assistance, Ryan and Laura devote their full attention to the them, which means that time directed to hosting an event is sacrificed. As a result, the nonprofit may miss out on making connections and receiving donations. But Ryder and Laura prefer to help someone when they need it.
In October 2025, at a classic car show in Denison, Texas, a game race chair sat in front of a large flat screen TV inside the dealership’s main showroom. A kid was in it playing Grand Theft Auto. A stack of folded T-shirts laid next to the TV screen and a guy in a blue T-shirt was standing nearby. His T-shirt read ‘Mentally Driven.’ It was Ryder. Mental Drive was raising donations to support another nonprofit through sales of their Driven Militia apparel and GTA drive-time at the event.
Ryder says he’s always working; there’s always something that needs to be done. He also has a lot of plans like creating more designs for the Driven Militia clothing line. He sits at the Collinsville office desk, with Laura standing beside him, both working on another design for a T-shirt.
Many daily problems contribute to mental health — car troubles, sick kids, and late bill payments — what matters is are people getting the help they seek. Some might lobby for state funding or certain training initiatives, but these can take a long time to go into effect, and come with rules. Sometimes it’s local community members that step in to begin initiating change.
Check out Mental Drive’s website and let them know if you have a car show coming up so that they can connect with you and your audience.
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