In Wake of Son's Death, Jon Daniel Calls for Mental Health Care for Dallas Musicians
Dallas ObserverFeb 22, 2017
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"The word started getting out," Daniel says. "So it's, 'OK, I need to put something out there,' because I don't want people to start sending me flowers or cards. I want this not to matter, because it does matter; I want to make a statement about artists and music because I know that was super important to [Jordan] and it's really important to me."
Daniel says he was nervous to make his grief public at first. He didn't mean to make Jordan a poster child, but he wanted to give friends and family something concrete to do to honor his memory. Jordan was a musician and music lover who had worked as a porter at
In the end he turned to Facebook to ask all those concerned to send donations to
Daniel hadn't heard of Foundation 45 before that point. Jordan most likely walked past their weekly meeting at the Independent Bar and Kitchen on his way to work at
"I think a lot of times people find out about these services after the fact," Dr.
Thomas' addition to the board is one of many steps the Foundation is currently taking to expand their reach. At their volunteer meeting
The balloon war is an event that will take place in the fall to raise funds to provide more one-on-one counseling sessions. The Foundation will begin pre-selling tickets at this year's
"It's really important for me [that] our organization [is] also tied in with the community, because the community is also another means of people telling people," Delabano says. "The subject that we're dealing with here is not a very friendly subject to have in casual conversation."
The uncomfortableness of this conversation is exactly why the Foundation throws upbeat fundraisers like balloon wars. Food trucks, vendors and of course water balloons will be on hand at the event and the visitors to Foundation's booth at the
Also under way is the "Coasters and Posters" campaign, a partnership between Foundation 45 and
"It's interesting to watch this grow because when you think about it, and when I think about musicians and bands, this is how I hear about other music, this is how I hear about other bands. You're out there in the scene and you hear somebody talk about it. You happen to be in a club one night and you see this band or that band and you pass it on word of mouth," Thomas says. "This is kind of going the same route with that, and it works. At some point it's not going to be enough, but for right now it's working."
This kind of organic conversation and self-policing of the scene is something Jon says he hopes becomes the norm in
"My motivation is because I sort of found my niche here [in Deep Ellum] as just sort of an aging dude who just loves music and I'm a natural networker and schmoozer," he says. "[I'm] just somebody reminding everybody from top to bottom that there is this thing here that you should know about because you're surrounded by people having these issues and if you're not one you know someone who is. Let's make it so people know enough about this place for people not to think it's bullshit."
According to a 2016 report by the
"A lot of these programs are overrun with people who really need their help and they tend to generally cater to folks who have a little bit more intense pathology, like chronic schizophrenia and homelessness," Thomas says.
Daniel says it's important that
The Foundation's connection to the local music and art scenes in
"It's neat to be able to walk into a group where other musicians are and you can talk about the stressors of that and everyone in the room can kind of nod and identify with that," Thomas says. "It really gives you this nice sense of universality which is this sense of 'I am not alone with this,' and that is a wonderful thing to have when you are struggling."
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