Local restaurateur’s nonprofit teams up with mental health organizations to help workers statewide

Houston restaurateur Chris Shepherd’s nonprofit, Southern Smoke, has teamed up with the University of Houston and Mental Health America of Greater Houston to provide free treatment for food and beverage workers and their children across Texas.

Southern Smoke, which launched its Emergency Relief Fund in 2017 to assist those in the food and beverage industry in crisis, had distributed more than $1.8 million to 981 individuals nationwide affected by Covid-19, as of May 26. Thanks to a relationship…