The Dalton family founded a nonprofit in 2017 to support foster children, but after the death of their son Ethan, a Texas State finance senior, their commitment to helping all at-risk youth has grown stronger than ever.

Ethan was beginning his senior year at Texas State when he died from accidental fentanyl and alcohol poisoning on Sept. 1, 2024, while he was in Colorado.

Ethan had a deep passion for baseball, cherished playing video games with his younger sibling Ace and was dedicated to fitness. But above all, his passion for people set him apart, according to his dad Dennis —connecting with them, uplifting them and making them feel seen.

“He’s someone you would meet once and you would not forget him,” Dennis said. “He had such a bright smile… there could be six people in a picture and he would be the one you’d see the most.”

However, Ethan’s mom, Stacy, said growing up wasn’t always easy. As a child, Ethan was impulsive and pushed boundaries, a reflection of his experience living with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

“He could mask his anxiety. He could mask his addictive behavior. He was very quick to anger, but he masked that with humor and things like that,” Stacy said. “…Every situation that he was in, he would always just go a little bit extra, he knew the consequences of his behavior, but he wasn’t able to internalize those.”

The Daltons channeled their experiences into founding The Collaborative for Family Education, a nonprofit inspired by their journey with Ethan.

The organization offers comprehensive support to children and their families, providing financial assistance and connecting them with vital resources for mental health care.

“[Our experience with Ethan] drives the organization, because I have an understanding that there’s not a black-and-white answer to anybody’s struggles…,” Stacy said. “It just really drives me to reach out to the community and be like, ‘Hey, nobody really chooses to do this it’s just something in their brain that’s just different, and that’s okay.’”

Ethan’s older sister Elise loved watching him grow into the person he became, especially after seeing him struggle in childhood to make friends and fit in.

“Teenagers struggle a lot with growing and finding themselves and I think Ethan was no exception he had a lot of struggles in his childhood that I watched him go through,” Elise said. “Then once he started going to Texas State, I think he found a lot of independence, and he was really for the first time able to be proud of himself and we were so proud of him.”

In the early years of The Collaborative for Family Education, Ethan dedicated himself to working with foster youth, particularly those who had aged out of the system. His commitment was deepened by his parents’ decision to foster children in their own home.

“He always had a lot of passion for people, whether it was people with special needs, or people in foster care, and people with autism, or even people with just differences in their personality, [Ethan] always rooted for the underdog,” Stacy said.

Now, the nonprofit is prioritizing community education on mental health resources and guiding children through that journey, and that work has already begun. Stacy spoke at the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance in October, addressing how families in rural areas can access additional support for children with mental health challenges.

To support the Dalton family’s mission and help fund their nonprofit, Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) is hosting a public fundraising event at Sewell Park on Feb. 8 as most of the nonprofit’s funding comes directly from the family.

“Being able to honor him in that culmination of his choices, good and bad, is so important to us and I do see [the organization] changing directions,” Stacy said. “We’re still going to work with the foster kids, but I see more and more of that mental health aspect coming in. With our experiences, how could it not.”

Though Ethan faced challenges growing up and often found himself in trouble, that changed when he entered early adulthood at Texas State. He excelled academically, maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout college, and built friendships, many of whom were his fraternity brothers in PIKE.

Jose Villarreal, who was the president of PIKE when Ethan died, said Ethan set the example for what a member of the fraternity should be: smart, overachieving and down to earth.

Ethan held a scholarship within the frat for two years, which is now being renamed in his honor as the Ethan Dalton Zeta Theta Scholarship and will launch in March.

“We are hoping whoever holds this scholarship will always strive for better and carry on the qualities Ethan represented to honor him,” Villarreal said.

PIKE also organized a memorial to honor Ethan a few days after his death on Sept. 5 outside the LBJ Student Center. Ethan’s older sister Lindsay said the ceremony showed her what Ethan meant to the people around him.

“I didn’t expect to see as many people as we did at his memorial, and to hear all the stories and how much people loved him and looked up to him and cared about him meant the world,” Lindsay said. “It’s tough for the circumstances but it was so nice to see the impact he left behind.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported a 14.5% decrease in overdose deaths from June 2023 to June 2024 and a decrease in the potency of fentanyl pills and that downward trend is reflected in Hays County.

“We’re making a difference but it’s never going to go away. We’re going to continue to have poisonings in our community but our job is to keep it as close to zero as possible,” Hays County Sheriff Anthony Hipolito said in a June interview with The Star. “So we’re going to work tirelessly to do that; both on the street and educationally.”

Texas State also has a Narcan Distribution Program available at the Student Health Center, Alkek Library and the Student Recreation Center.

Stacy said Ethan always wanted to be a rock for others, someone they could turn to. Now, that spirit lives on through the work of the nonprofit, echoing his hope to make a lasting difference.

“Ethan died like he lived; just a little bit extra and a little bit impulsive but he was such a good human and that is what we want the organization to honor,” Stacy said.