Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Montez.
Nathan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When people ask how the Blue Bee Project began, the answer always starts with our son, Nathan Lee Montez Jr. Nathan was 15 years old when we lost him to suicide on January 26, 2024.
There are no words that can fully explain what that does to a family.
In many ways, that day divided our lives into a before and after. Before, we were a busy family of six. We had two sons away at college, and a recent college graduate and Nathan at home. Our four sons filled our lives with excitement, laughter, music, beautiful chaos, and those quieter ordinary, but cherished moments we thought would last forever. After, we were left trying to understand how someone so deeply loved could have been hurting so much without us knowing.
The organization began very simply. Our son had $500 saved. As much as we needed help with funeral expenses, we could not bring ourselves to use that money that way. We needed it to become something living, good, and beautiful that honored our son. With the support of Nathan’s three older brothers, we made the decision to turn those savings into the Nathan Montez Jr. Scholarship and help another young person move forward. In 2024 and again in 2025, two scholarships were awarded in our son’s memory.
Our sweet son’s memory forever changed the way we understand mental health, especially among young people who may appear happy and loved while struggling beneath the surface.
Nathan had a sweet warmth that drew people in. He was thoughtful and tenderhearted, and he could be cautious at first, but once he felt comfortable, he was funny and witty. He was intelligent, creative, adventurous, and full of potential. He loved music, history, comics, puzzles, nature, and spending time with his brothers and friends. He dreamed of becoming a veterinarian or doctor someday and he was so genuine and kind that he made people feel cared for. Nathan was the youngest in our family and the heart of our home.
He checked in on friends, volunteered at church and school, and mentored younger students during summer programs. Helping others was never something he did for attention; he loved helping.
One small memory captures Nathan’s heart perfectly. One day, his mom made him a flower ring and as the flower began withering, he gently dropped it into the neighborhood creek, played soft music from her phone, and jokingly called it a “funeral.” It was both funny and deeply sincere all at once. That was Nathan: sensitive, compassionate, imaginative, and full of feeling. They laughed so much afterwards.
One of the hardest lessons we have learned is that suicide can happen in families like ours, in homes filled with love, faith, and support. It does not always look the way people expect it to. Sometimes the people carrying the deepest pain are still laughing, making plans, showing up, and they are loved. Behind every statistic is someone’s child, sibling, friend, teammate, or classmate. Someone irreplaceable.
After Nathan passed, our family faced the impossible task of learning how to move forward while carrying enormous grief. In the midst of that pain, we kept hearing more and more stories of young people lost too soon. Each one reopened our own heartbreak. At the same time, we saw how difficult it can be for young people and families to openly talk about mental health, grief, and emotional pain. We knew we could not change what happened to our son, but we also knew we could not stay silent. The scholarships were only the beginning. We wanted other families to have more information and support. And more importantly, we wanted teens and young adults to know their lives have value and that they are not alone. It was at that moment that we launched Blue Bee Project.
The name came from Nathan’s love for bees and his favorite color, blue. Our logo, a blue bee shaped like a semicolon, represents the choice to continue one’s story despite pain and struggles.
We simply started with love for our son and a belief that something meaningful could still grow from our loss. We had no nonprofit background or major funding, we had no roadmap or easy answers. Our family made the bold decision to pour all the love we had for our son and brother into something that may help save someone else’s child; though we did not know exactly what that would look like.
One early and very significant milestone for us was partnering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for the Hike for Hope in Galveston, where together with family, friends and a whole lot of community we helped raise more than $4,000 toward suicide prevention efforts and awareness. Being part of that event reminded us that this work is bigger than one family. It belongs to all of us who believes our young people deserve support before they reach a breaking point. The event brought together an incredible number of people and reinforced for us how important this cause truly is to the community.
From the beginning, many of our efforts have been simple but intentional. Our family has distributed mental health and suicide prevention awareness items; including stickers, bracelets, and metal pins throughout churches, schools, community events, and among friends and families. These may seem like small gestures, but we believe they make a difference. A pin can remind someone that they are not alone. Blue Bee Project wants to keep bringing hope and awareness into everyday spaces, where young people and families already are, so mental health and suicide prevention can be spoken about with honesty instead of fear or shame.
Since then, Blue Bee Project has continued to grow steadily and purposely. This year we awarded five scholarships to graduating seniors amounting to $4,500. And because we believe people need to feel seen before they can feel supported, we are convinced the larger impact is the connection with each scholarship applicant. For this reason, every applicant receives a small gift bag with a thank-you note, encouraging fun items, and mental health resources. We want them to know that someone saw them and their story matters. That small gesture reflects the heart behind everything we hope to build.
Blue Bee Project is still growing, but it is already making an impact. We are working toward official nonprofit status, strengthening our outreach, building partnerships, expanding scholarship opportunities, and developing long-term plans for community programs and support initiatives.
Our goal is to create a compassionate and trusted presence throughout the Houston community and beyond. And eventually help connect families with direct mental health support resources.
Authenticity is so important to us. We are simply a grieving family trying to turn love into action. We know what it feels like to lose someone to suicide. For that reason, we care and share our son’s story so openly.
Sharing Nathan’s story is one of the ways we continue loving and honoring him as his parents. We truly believe he would want his life to help someone. And so yes, we want to be recognized because of Nathan’s story, but also because of the impact Blue Bee Project is making in our community in his memory.
We know we cannot do this work by ourselves. Blue Bee Project needs people who believe in hope, compassion, and community. Whether someone volunteers, donates, shares our mission, invites us to an event, connects us with a school or organization, or simply starts a conversation about mental health, they become part of this work. Together we can help create a Houston community where mental health is talked about more openly and reaches more teens and young adults.
We miss Nathan terribly, but we move forward in faith, and honor him through the Blue Bee Project. Today, we invite our community to help us build something that reaches young people before families are left heartbroken and searching for answers. Whether through volunteering, donating, sharing our mission, or simply starting a conversation, every person who joins us becomes part of Nathan’s continuing legacy of kindness, compassion, and hope.
To learn more about Blue Bee Project visit www.bluebeeproject.com or visit our socials and follow us IG: @bluebeeproject FB: @bluebeeprojectx
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most difficult part was managing our grief. We had to learn how to move forward without our baby. and, how to relate to each other again because the family dynamic had dramatically changed.
We experienced for ourselves how difficult it can be to open to talking about mental health, grief, and emotional pain. It was about a year later, that we would begin sharing a little about Nathan; it was a slow process. It involved breaking past the stigma and speaking to professionals.
We also had to wait and be patient with family members who were not ready. Everyone grieves and process suicide loss differently.
All of it involved so much praying. And also, so important to our healing process were the therapy sessions. We did both of those things individually and as a family.
Then we started becoming more aware of how many people we lose to suicide, many of them were so young. It was all heartbreaking.
We started without any background knowledge, so it took a lot of humility and patience. I started learning as I went, asking questions, building relationships, and taking it a step at a time.
What made it even more difficult was trying to build Blue Bee Project while still navigating my own grief, career, and responsibilities at home.
This is something I began because the need in our community is too big and too important to ignore.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been in IT for almost 30 years mostly in the legal field. I’m a Network Administrator for a well-established law firm in Houston, TX
I love what I do for a living, but nothing means more to me than being a father. Second is founding Blue Bee Project. It has given me a renewed sense of purpose in the middle of grief and the chance to honor my son’s life by helping other families.
What sets me apart is the courage it took to begin Blue Bee Project from the ground up while carrying my grief. I was out of my comfort zone and trying to heal, care for my family, and learn how to move forward after losing Nathan. I had to learn the practical side of creating an organization, while also stepping into difficult conversations with others who are hurting. It has taken a lot of courage, strength, and love.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Helping someone find hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bluebeeproject.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebeeproject/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluebeeprojectx/
