#NotInVain was started by our President PJ Champion Sallie October 24, 2017 after the loss of her daughter Christina to crack cocaine and heroin toxicity. It began with telling her daughter’s struggle in the obituary, which had close to two million hits.
“It was very cathartic for me, and the Lord laid on my heart that I should reach out to other mamas. I went to a Christian college and have led Bible studies. I’ve always been in service ministries, so I thought of setting up an instant messaging page where moms could connect. But I was ignorant of technology. By some strange accident, I created a private Facebook page instead of instant messaging.”
There was no site specializing in momma grief from loss due to substance use. It’s a unique form of grief. Addiction, chaos and heartbreaking loss does not discriminate. Society does. Stigma is counter productive in what is needed within the hell of this type of grief. A safe, sacred bed for our grieving hearts exists within our private group.
This site took off, sadly, just as the wildfire of the drug epidemic that is ravaging globally. We as a nation are in an apocalyptic drug crisis fueled by fentanyl. A wrecking ball of devastation and destruction is being swung in a wide swath at every single person in this country. Our membership is in the 4,000s and increasing daily. We are a sisterhood of mommas from all fifty states and nine countries.”