BATON ROUGE— In April 2023, Jordan Tabor and his family experienced a tragedy—the loss of his son, Owen, to suicide.
Owen was just two weeks shy of his 16th birthday, a popular and accomplished young man who seemed to have a lot going for him.
“He was playing, starting as a tight end as a sophomore at St. Michael High School,” Tabor shared. “I tell people this so they understand that if Owen could fall victim to suicide, then all of our kids are at risk.”
In the aftermath of their loss, Tabor and his wife committed to turning their grief into a purpose. In May 2023, just weeks after Owen’s passing, they founded the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation. The name shows their belief in finding hope and healing even in the darkest of times.
The foundation’s primary goal is to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention, especially among young people. Tabor, who admits that mental health awareness was once “background noise” to him, now sees the importance of addressing the stigma around mental health issues.
“If an athlete gets hurt and breaks their arm on the football field, there’s no shame in asking for help to go to the doctor. But when it comes to mental health, there’s that stigma, and that’s what we’re trying to address.”
In 2008, the Jason Flatt act was passed requiring school personel to attend a 2-hour training on suicide prevention annually. This act has since been repealed and is no longer in effect. This makes the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation mission more critical than ever.
One of the key initiatives of the foundation is to train over 100,000 students, faculty, and coaches across the state of Louisiana to recognize the warning signs of suicide and mental health struggles in their peers. The training is designed to be interactive and accessible, showing students how to notice something is off with a friend and turn to a trusted adult for help.
“We’re not asking kids to be mental health professionals,” Tabor explained. “But kids confide in one another, and if something’s off, the training helps them pick up on those warning signs.”
The response to the foundation’s efforts has been extremely positive.
“We have not had a school system tell us no,” Tabor said, noting that the training has primarily focused on the Baton Rouge area but will soon expand statewide through their “Prevention in Every Parish” campaign.
The training sessions, which typically last about 45 minutes, are tailored to each school’s needs. Some schools prefer a “train the trainer” model, where the foundation trains counselors, who then train students. In other cases, the foundation’s team trains directly. While smaller groups of about 30 students allow for more interaction, the foundation also offers larger, auditorium-style presentations when needed.
As the new school year begins, the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation is gearing up to implement its program in East Baton Rouge schools, with the first training sessions scheduled to take place soon. The training is backed by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and is completely free for the schools.
Tabor expressed hope that the foundation’s efforts could prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy his family endured.
“Had my son’s school had this training, had his friends been exposed to this, maybe he would still be with us. I can’t say for sure, but every little bit helps.”
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