The Grant Halliburton Foundation is honoring founder Vanita Halliburton with the Beacon Award later this month for her work in promoting better mental health and preventing suicide.
The foundation was started in 2006 in honor of Plano teen Grant Halliburton, who died by suicide, by his mother Vanita, father Alan and sister Amy.
“When Grant died, my mom knew there must be other families struggling to connect the dots and find help for their loved ones,” Amy said. “She became a passionate changemaker for youth mental health and suicide prevention, learning all she could, breaking down stigma through education, conversation and collaboration, and helping every family she could. She is a true hero in our community, turning our family’s tragedy into a purposeful mission to keep more young people healthy and here.”
Since its founding, the foundation has developed a mental health education initiative, training more than 350,000 students, educators, parents and professionals; established Coffee Days peer support groups for mothers and female caretakers of teens and young adults with mental health challenges; created a searchable database of more than 900 mental health providers and resources and created the Here for Texas Mental Health Navigation Line.
“Vanita is one of the most generous persons I know. She took a difficult situation and has turned it into helping thousands of people – many of whom she’s never met. Yet her impact on giving hope and healing will be her legacy,” said Grant Halliburton Foundation President Kevin Hall.
Vanita will be awarded at the 16th Annual Beacon of Hope Community Luncheon, where former MLB player and mental health advocate Drew Robinson and voice of the Texas Rangers Eric Nadel will be headlining and moderating, respectively.
The luncheon will take place at the Omni Dallas Hotel on March 25. Individual tickets are on sale now for $225 each. Sponsorships range from $3,000 to $25,000.
