JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dozens of families came together in Downtown Jacksonville Saturday morning for a special Mother's Day brunch for mothers across the First Coast who have lost children to acts of violence.
The event hosted by Silent Women Speaking not only serves as a morning of support to these families but also an opportunity for the group to call on the community to speak out about violence.
Gone but never forgotten, the mothers hold on to the memories of their children killed by acts of violence.
“I have a heart tattooed on my arm, it’s his thumbprint, my thumbprint," Trina Chivers, whose son was murdered, said. “This December will be 15 years since he passed away, he was murdered.”
Chivers sat at the 4th annual Mother’s Day brunch with a picture of her son Gene Rashaad Drummond on the table. She is just one of the dozens of mothers brought together by Silent Women Speaking.
“No parent wants to, or should in the natural scheme of things, have to bury their children or bury their child. So I just give God the glory for his strength, his grace and his mercy and this is what I’ve also received from this group of people," Genell Mills, whose son was killed in a burglary, said.
In January 2024, Mills lost her oldest son, 45-year-old Gary Jr. during a burglary. She now uses her voice, along with the other mothers in this room, to call on the community to stop the violence.
“One of the things I’m praying for beside justice for my son, is that those people who committed this crime that they themselves give their lives to God and turn around cause that’s the only hope for them. Not only are they destroying my family and other families, but their family too because they will be caught," Mills said.
Silent Women Speaking also provides grief counseling, mental health assistance and other support services for families impacted by violence.
Along with support services, the foundation is publishing a book, Painful Tears of Silent Women, with stories from 10 mothers who have lost their children to violence. The book will be published in late May.
Mayor Donna Deegan declared May 4 as Angel Moms in May Day to honor the foundation and the mothers who are a part of it.