BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Lisa and Jordan Tabor lost their eldest son, Owen, to suicide when he was just 15 years old. Three years later, they have turned their grief into a statewide mental health initiative.
On the outside, Owen appeared to be a regular, happy teenager.
“Just a fun-loving kid, extremely funny, always had a ton of friends, was very athletic, you know, just had really everything you could ask for,” Lisa Tabor, Owen’s mom, said.
But he was fighting internal battles no one, including his parents, knew about.
“If a kid like Owen could fall victim to suicide, then we really feel like all the kids are at risk,” Jordan Tabor, Owen’s dad, said. “That’s what our big message to people is. You think these things can’t happen to you, they happen to other people, until they do.”
Nonprofit reaches thousands across Louisiana
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in Louisiana.
The Tabors started a nonprofit called Rain Will Bring Flowers just 15 days after Owen passed.
“We just could not let our son’s tragedy go to waste, and if we can just save one person, then it’s all worth it,” Jordan Tabor said.
The organization works to bring mental health awareness and suicide prevention to students of all ages across the state. One of their newest initiatives targets middle and high schoolers.
“We’re training kids to pick up on warning signs from their peers and hand that struggling child over to a trusted adult,” Jordan Tabor said.
The goal was to bring the free programming, called Prevention in Every Parish, to 100,000 people. They have already trained 96,000 people across 24 parishes in just two years. The Joe Burrow Foundation has given over $100,000 in grants to help more high schoolers get the training and support they need. However, Lisa knows they’re not doing this alone.
“I feel like Owen opens doors for us all the time. Jordan is really resourceful, but I think things kind of fall sometimes perfectly in place, and I think that’s Owen working,” Lisa Tabor said.
Annual event draws community support
One event that Lisa Tabor said always seems to come together is Planting Seeds of Hope. With the help of community resources, LSU athletes and musical artists, Jordan and Lisa Tabor pack the PMAC for a night filled with understanding and support for those struggling.
“If athletes like that can put themselves out there and talk about their mental health, we’re hoping the kids in the audience can realize that it’s okay to not be okay, if you’re struggling, everybody’s struggling, you’re not alone, but just ask for help,” Jordan Tabor said.
Lisa Tabor said when emotions get too overwhelming, she and Jordan lean on Owen’s memory to keep pushing forward.
“Talk to your kids about Owen. Tell Owen’s story to them so they know that other kids struggle and they don’t have to struggle alone,” Lisa Tabor said.
Rain Will Bring Flowers also supports area graduating seniors who are entering behavioral health through an endowment honoring Owen. This year, the Tabors were able to pick two students to receive this four-year scholarship.
To learn more about the organization and support their mission, visit their website.
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