Tallahassee mom turns pain into passion with new nonprofit in honor of her son’s death

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A Tallahassee mom is now on a mission to give back after losing her son at 26 days old and struggling to get his ashes from a Gainesville funeral home.

“I felt like God sent me a sign, letting me know I had to do something to keep this from happening to other families,” said Williams.

WCTV first sat down with Deondra Williams in March, after she went four months without getting her son’s ashes from Forest Meadows Funeral Home. Williams said it wasn’t until after our original story aired that the funeral home called her to provide the ashes for “Baby AJ.”

Since then, Williams hired an attorney, filed a complaint with the state, retrieved her son’s ashes, and started a nonprofit organization. She said the Togetherness Foundation is going to help other families struggling with the loss of a child. “To provide for families who have a child facing a major health crisis, or have a child they may have lost recently, so they can feel like we’re in this together,” said Williams.

She said her organization will provide referral resources for things like mental health and legal advice. “Even financial assistance,” said Williams. “So we can go through this experience together of healing, growing, conquering.”

WCTV reached out to Forest Meadows Funeral Home again, but an employee said they still have no comment on the situation.

Williams already has her first community event planned, where she’ll distribute 500 backpacks filled with school supplies. The donation drive is on July 29 at Tom Brown Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you’d like to help donate backpacks or school supplies, click here to visit the website.

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