Mission Statement
Founded by a mother in long-term recovery after losing her only son, MADMOMS transforms grief into healing through recovery support, music, storytelling, holistic wellness, and community partnerships. Every program is designed to reduce stigma, strengthen families, and build healthier communities.
We believe healing happens in many ways. Through storytelling, songwriting, creative arts, holistic wellness, and peer support, participants find healthy ways to process grief, strengthen resilience, and discover hope. Your investment helps families turn their stories into sources of healing and inspiration.
MADMOMS was founded by a mother in long-term recovery who transformed the devastating loss of her only son into a movement of hope and healing. Our lived experience allows us to build trust, reduce stigma, and create safe spaces where families feel understood and supported.
No family should face addiction, recovery, or grief alone. MADMOMS brings together families, recovery advocates, healthcare professionals, community organizations, elected officials, and volunteers to build lasting partnerships that expand access to resources and strengthen communities.
Healing doesn’t end after a crisis or a single support group. We provide ongoing programs that help families continue their journey through education, wellness activities, peer support, community events, and creative healing opportunities. Your support helps ensure that families have a place to turn, not just today, but for years to come.
Investing in MADMOMS is an investment in prevention. By strengthening families, reducing isolation, and increasing access to recovery resources and community support, we help create healthier communities where hope can grow and future harm can be reduced.
A compassionate support group offering practical tools, education, and peer connection for families whose loved ones are living with active addiction.
I do this work because I know firsthand how loss and silence shape our families. I lost my only son tragically, who was struggling with substance use, was intoxicated and on Stuart Street in Boston when he was ran over and killed by a SUV and I lost my father to alcoholism when I was only eight. Though I was blessed with a loving stepfather, I carried a long, quiet longing to understand my dad’s story and I don’t want our children or our communities to carry that kind of silence.
That’s why I created and support Dads Speak Week to make space for fathers to be seen, heard, and uplifted. Raising my son as a single mother and a woman who runs a nonprofit (which serves the whole community, not only moms), I believe deeply that supporting men is not separate from supporting women. Mothers uplifting mothers is vital and mothers uplifting fathers is equally essential. When we bring dads into the conversation, we strengthen families, reduce stigma around struggle, and build safer, healthier communities for everyone.
Join us for Dads Speak Week Live: listen, learn, connect, and help create a community where every parent’s story matters. Dress code: Business casual, dress to impress or come as you are.
I’m truly honored to receive this award from the City of Boston! Though it breaks my heart just to think that I continue to move forward and be an EXTRAordinary Women after immense pain and tragedy. I know without any doubt in my mind and heart that Ja’Maar would be tremendously proud of his mama and pushing me to go further. He always thought I was a genius for an old lady!
Thank you to all those who continue to uplift me and admire my work. You know who you are and I am forever grateful and humbled. BUT GOD!
This photograph marks the beginning of my new journey, a forever reality embraced in quiet grace. Here lies "THE GROVE," my son’s resting place, where memories linger and love finds its voice. His physical form rests beneath the earth, yet his spirit soars—free, fierce, and everlasting, circling above me, wrapping around my heart, a gentle whisper, “Mom,” echoing in the silence.
I find myself grappling with a heavy heart, haunted by the shadows of his silent battle. As a mother, fiercely protective, I wish I could shield him from a world unkind to those who bear this burden. Though he did not succumb to the dark depths of overdose, he fought valiantly against an illness that sought to consume him, navigating a life entangled in incarceration's grip, until that fateful day when the streets claimed him.
Together, we stand within a community stigmatized by the weight of mental health and substance use, voices hushed, stories hidden beneath layers of shame, particularly in the rich tapestry of our communities of color. But here, in this sacred space, let us find strength to share our truths, to honor our loved ones, to rise above the stigma that seeks to silence, and create a chorus of healing, love, and remembrance.
As I stand in “THE GROVE,” I choose to embrace the memories, the pain, the love that remains, for in his spirit, I find a path to resilience, a journey toward healing that begins with our stories.
"5ive," born Ja’Maar D. Johnson, was his mother’s beloved only son. With a strong presence, he had a range of nicknames that reflected his dynamic personality. He’d often say, “You can call me Flyboy 5ive, The Kid, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Jay, or just 5ive. But if you don’t know me, it’s Mr. Ja'Maar Johnson to you.” Ja'Maar had a deep passion for music, expressing himself through writing songs and rapping. He also enjoyed drawing and was athletic, playing both football and lacrosse. His favorite color was red, and he aspired to be a rap star or a football player, driven by a desire to make his family proud.
With a captivating smile and a strong character, Ja'Maar was a young man filled with potential. However, in October 2009, tragedy struck when he became a victim of community violence, suffering a gunshot wound to his neck. Due to the bullet's precarious location, the surgeons had to leave it in, which set the stage for Ja'Maar’s struggle with opioids, as he became dependent on the pain medication prescribed to him.
