Houston chef and brewery team up for mental health

HOUSTON — A local brewery and chef have teamed up to make a new beer and dedicate one percent of the profits to mental health resources for those working in the hospitality industry.

The reason they do this is because they have lost loved ones to suicide and want to make sure they help those who are struggling.

The service industry is a labor of love where you serve others.

“You do this because you take pride in the service you provide, and sometimes the thing you do the least service to is yourself,” said Lindsay Burleson, owner of Two Headed Dog and ambassador for I ‘ll Have What She’s Have.

Sometimes mental health takes a back seat.

“It gives rise to a lot of struggles that aren’t talked about for a very long time,” Burleson said. “I’ve lost so many people to substance abuse, suicide and depression.”

Local bars and chefs have faced losses.

“So for us, we lost Dom. A long-time employee and friend decided to take his own life for reasons unknown to us,” said Equal Parts Brewing owner Matt Petterson.

“I lost my nephew Cameron Burrell. He committed suicide almost two years ago,” said local chef and Olympic gold medalist Dawn Burrell.

Dealing with pain hasn’t been easy for industry leaders, but they decided they wanted to help those who might be struggling.

“We wanted to try to create a place where not only could our employees talk about how this experience affected them, but where we could also help others,” Petterson said.

Equal Parts Brewing and Dawn Burrell have partnered with the nonprofit “I’ll Have What She’s Have,” an organization that provides free mental health services.

“And when something like this happens, what you want to do is prevent it from happening to anyone else,” said Juni Rodriguez, of Equal Parts Brewing.

To raise money to pay for these services, they did what they do best: created a new beer.

“As we use it in a portfolio of West African grains 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 will not only honor those they lost, but also help others.

On Friday, from 5-7 p.m., they will be hosting a launch party at Equal Parts Brewing where you can purchase the beer. Twelve other bars in the Houston area will also sell it. All proceeds from the beer will go to fund free mental health programs.

If you want to buy the beer, you can go to these 13 participating bars:

1710 West 18th Street
Houston, Texas 77008

2518 Yale Street
Houston, Texas 77008

1010 Prairie Street
Houston, Texas 77002

3320 White Oak Drive
Houston, TX 77007

3302 White Oak Drive
Houston, TX 77007

2006 Walker Street
Houston, TX 77003

3401 WTC Jester Boulevard.
Houston, TX 7701

714 Yale Street, Suite 1a
Houston, TX 77007

424 Westheimer Road. Suite B
Houston, Texas 77006

1517 Alabama Street
Houston, TX 77004

4835 Calhoun Road.
Houston, TX 77004

705 Principale Street
Houston, Texas 77002

For more information on free mental health services, click here.