“Born from love, loss, and a calling to change.”
I created what I wish had existed.
For my son —
Jon.
A place where families find knowledge, connection, and support — before they need it urgently.
Meet Dawn LohrOne mother. One loss.
One refusal to accept the gap.
Dawn Lohr was led to this cause through profound loss and grief that changed everything for her. In her search for help, she encountered a system that was not designed to support families in those critical moments.
After losing her son Jon, Dawn faced a painful truth. The support that might have made a difference was not there — the education, the early conversations, the guidance on what to look for and what to do were missing when they were needed most.
BRAVE was created to bridge that gap. It is not a crisis service or a therapy program — but a space for prevention, connection, and community. It exists to help families stay one step ahead, so fewer families have to experience the loss Dawn has endured.
Everything BRAVE offers is rooted in Dawn’s lived experience — the Brave Check-In, the Get Connected Program, family events, and future youth programs. Each initiative reflects what Dawn knows families truly need.
The relationship between a parent and child is the most protective factor there is. Everything BRAVE does is designed to strengthen it.
Support that starts before crisis. Knowledge, language, and community built before they’re urgently needed. A plan reduces panic.
We meet families where they are — without judgement, without an agenda, and without pretending the path is always simple.
Meet Dawn Lohr
The person behind BRAVE — her lived experience, her loss, and her calling are the foundation everything is built on.
Dawn Lohr
Founder, Choose Brave
Community Leader · Program Architect · Author
Dawn Lohr is the Founder of BRAVE: The Alex & Jon Project and a passionate advocate for mental health, driven by love, loss, and purpose. After the heartbreaking loss of her son Jon, Dawn transformed her grief into a calling — committed to ensuring that no other family has to face those darkest moments alone.
Dawn is the author of Love Beyond: A Mother’s Heart, A Son’s Courageous Battle, a deeply personal book that honors Jon’s life and shares his story with the world. With a community-builder’s heart and a background in banking and wealth management, Dawn shapes BRAVE’s vision — focusing on meaningful connections and early intervention pathways for families before crisis occurs.
Her book
Love Beyond: A Mother’s Heart, A Son’s Courageous Battle
A deeply personal memoir honoring Jon’s life — available now.
The Brave Collective
Our founding strength — not a gap.
The Brave Collective is the professional and clinical backbone of Choose Brave. It is the group of qualified mental health professionals, educators, and specialists who ensure that every program we deliver is safe, evidence-informed, and credible — to families, to funders, and to the broader mental health community.
The Collective is not a rubber-stamp advisory panel. It is an active, working group that designs, supervises, and governs the clinical and program quality of everything Choose Brave does with children and young people. Without it, the youth programs cannot responsibly exist. With it, BRAVE becomes a model that schools, hospitals, funders, and families can trust entirely.
The Collective is currently being built. Founding members will be named here as partnerships are confirmed. If you are a mental health professional, educator, or clinician interested in contributing, we would love to hear from you.
Program design
All youth program content is developed in partnership with Collective members — not by the founders alone
Delivery oversight
Qualified professionals are present or supervising every youth program session
Safeguarding framework
The Collective owns the Red protocol — what happens when a young person discloses crisis
Referral network
Members provide warm referral pathways for Red-level situations and complex family needs
Credibility
Collective members lend their professional credentials to BRAVE — this is what opens doors to schools, hospitals, and funders
Start with the Brave Check-In.
Four minutes. A clear result. A direction for your family — and the community to walk it with you.