HOUSTON — A local brewery and chef have teamed up to make a new beer and put a percent of the profits toward mental health resources for those working in the hospitality industry.
The reason they’re doing it is because they’ve lost loved ones to suicide and want to make sure they help others struggling.
The service industry is a labor of love where you serve others.
"You do that because you find pride in the service you give, and sometimes the thing you're giving the least service to is yourself," said Lindsay Burleson the owner of Two Headed Dog and ambassador for I'll Have What She's Having.
Sometimes, mental health takes the back seat.
"It gives way to a lot of struggles that for the longest time you don't talk about," Burleson said. "I have lost so many people to substance issues, suicide and depression."
Local bars and chefs have dealt with loss.
"So for us, we lost Dom. A long-time employee and friend decided to take his own life for reasons unbeknownst to us," owner of Equal Parts Brewing Matt Petterson said.
"I lost my nephew Cameron Burrell. He committed suicide almost two years ago," local chef and Olympic gold medalist Dawn Burrell said.
Dealing with the pain hasn’t been easy for the industry leaders but they decided they wanted to help others who might be struggling.
"We wanted to try to create a place where not only our employees could talk about how that experience affected them, but we could help others as well," Petterson said.
Equal Parts Brewing and Dawn Burrell teamed up with the nonprofit organization "I’ll Have What She's Having," an organization that offers free mental health services.
"And when something like that happens, the thing that you want to do is prevent it from happening to anybody else," said Juni Rodriguez, with Equal Parts Brewing.
To raise money to pay for those services, they did what they do best -- created a new beer.
"Like we use in a West African grain portfolio and black rice to develop this beer," Burrell said.
The new beer is called Shared Strength.
"An easy drinking lager," Peterson said.
The beer will launch on Friday. They hope it not only honors those they lost but hope it helps others, too.
Friday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., they will have a launch party at Equal Parts Brewing where you can purchase the beer. Twelve other bars in the Houston area will also be selling it. All of the profits from the beer will fund free mental health programs.
If you would like to purchase the beer, you can head to these 13 participating bars:
Star Sailor
1710 W 18th St.
Houston, TX 77008
Johnny’s Gold Brick
2518 Yale St.
Houston, TX 77008
Underground Hall
1010 Prairie St.
Houston, TX 77002
Coltivare
3320 White Oak Dr.
Houston, TX 77007
EZ’s Liquor
3302 White Oak Dr.
Houston, TX 77007
Neil’s Bahr
2006 Walker St.
Houston, TX 77003
Tacos A Go Go Oak Forest
3401 W T C Jester Blvd.
Houston, TX 7701
Local Foods in the Heights
714 Yale St. Suite 1a
Houston, TX 77007
Anvil
424 Westheimer Rd. Suite B
Houston, TX 77006
Axelrad
1517 Alabama St.
Houston, TX 77004
UH Den
4835 Calhoun Rd.
Houston, TX 77004
Flying Saucer Downtown
705 Main St.
Houston, TX 77002
For more information on free mental health services, click here.