Macon Grieving Mothers Program Seeks Community Support for 18 Women

MACON, Georgia – The Family Counseling Center of Central Georgia is asking Macon residents to help support 18 mothers who have lost a child and are taking part in a free 10-week healing program.

The program, Better Together Circles™: Healing After Loss, is led by its creator, Dr. Deirtre Cotton. The Family Counseling Center is a partner of Macon Violence Prevention, known as MVP.

How to help

The center listed three ways to give:

• Sign up to provide a weekly meal for about 25 people through a Meal Train page at mealtrain.com/trains/9d6d5v.
• Buy items from the center’s Amazon registry at a.co/0ey3qZlr. People who already have some of the items at home can drop them off at the center, or staff will pick them up.
• Give a gift of any size at secure.qgiv.com/for/familycounselingcenterofcentralgeorgia.

What the mothers get

Participants connect with other mothers who understand this kind of loss. They learn ways to handle grief, difficult emotions, triggers, relationships and significant dates. They also honor their child’s life and memory.

Sessions include guided conversations, journaling, creative expression, remembrance activities and peer connection. Mothers never have to share more than they are comfortable sharing.

Christy Henry, the center’s executive director, posted a message after the first session.

“As a society, we bring casseroles to families when someone they love dies, but who is there for you weeks, months, and years later?” Henry said. “Losing a child shows up very differently. We want these mothers to know their children will be remembered forever.”

Henry said she left the first session feeling hopeful.

“I drove home with a full heart [after the first session], knowing this space truly matters,” Henry said. “With your support, we can open this circle to even more mothers in the cohorts to come.”

Mayor Lester Miller also commented on the effort.

“Taking care of our community means finding ways to stop tragedies from happening but also to support people affected long after when a tragedy occurs,” Miller said. “This is a pain nobody should face alone, and I want people to know our community cares for them and is ready to support them.”

Second group planned for 2027

The current group is full. Henry said enough mothers have shown interest that the center is starting to plan a second cohort for early 2027.

A mother who has lost a child and wants more information or wants to join can call the Family Counseling Center at 478-745-2811.

About the program and its creator

The program follows the Broken to Better Transformation Framework, which Cotton developed. The framework guides mothers through acknowledgement, stabilization, healing, reframing, creative expression, repurposing, leadership development, and purpose and community impact.

The program aims to give mothers a space to find their voices and turn pain into passion and purpose. It does not aim to have them leave grief or their children behind. It aims to show that love, remembrance, grief, healing, growth and hope can exist in the same life.

Cotton founded Better After Being Broken, LLC. She holds a doctorate in pastoral counseling and has more than 30 years of experience helping people through grief, trauma, addiction, life transitions and emotional healing. She is also a mother who lost a child.

Background on the partners

The Junior League of Macon and the United Givers Fund, now United Way of Central Georgia, established the Family Counseling Center in 1957. The private nonprofit offers counseling for individuals, couples and families. It started the Central Georgia CASA program in 1997 to support children in the juvenile court system. CASA became self-sufficient by 2000.

Macon Violence Prevention is funded and supported by the consolidated government. It brings together elected officials, community leaders and representatives from more than 20 agencies, organizations and departments. Its strategic plan dates to June 2021.

More than $2.5 million has gone to local nonprofit and community organizations since the program began. From 2022 to 2025, the Macon-Bibb homicide rate dropped by 60%, and the youth homicide rate fell by 87%.