TINA FORD, CRYSTAL COATES (PHOTO BY GENEA L. WEBB)
‘My son is not dead; he still lives with me.’
by Genea L. Webb
For New Pittsburgh Courier
Tina Ford has big plans for her Mothers of Murdered Sons (M.O.M.S.) group for 2024. She founded the group in 2019 after her 23-year-old son, Armani Ford, was shot and killed that same year in Clairton.
“We will go out and visit women and we’re going to be there for these women because they need us,” Ford said. “I have contractors that are willing to provide their services for free to grieving mothers. Those services include hairdos, small house repairs, getting nails done. All of these people will come to the grieving mother’s home and provide services to the women who need and want them so that if they don’t have transportation, we will come to them.”
M.O.M.S.’ mission is to provide support throughout the grieving process and beyond.
JEAN GRESSEM-JACOBS (PHOTOS BY GENEA L. WEBB)
“This group is important because it’s a safe space, a healing place for those who have gone through this to have people to lean on and it’s also a place for those of us who haven’t directly gone through it can provide support,” explained Jean Gressem-Jacobs, a childhood friend of Ford. She was a commentator during a fundraising event held on Dec. 9 entitled, “Moms Without Crowns,” at the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center in East Liberty.
Several mothers who have lost their sons to gun violence spoke at the event and shared their heart-wrenching stories of losing their sons.
Clairton resident Beverly Maxwell Warfield lost her son, George Maxwell, 23 years ago, but she finds solace in being a part of the M.O.M.S. group. “What these young people don’t understand is that when they kill someone, they are not just taking the life of the person they killed, but they are killing the lives of two families and it has to stop,” Warfield said. “My son was shot and killed taking up for someone else. He was mischievous at times. He would do things for people without having to ask. He was a kind-hearted person. He would take up for other people and that’s how he got shot in the neck…he was taking up for someone else.”
BEVERLY MAXWELL WARFIELD, TINA FORD
Crystal Coates’ son, Donald Hammond, was shot and killed in April 2022. He was 33 years old.
“He was a bad kid and he broke a Tonka truck. But as he grew up he became more responsible,” Coates said about her son. “He would do things with his three sons and his nephew. He loved to fish and he loved to go to the beach. At first this was so painful and my cousin told me that she knew someone I could talk to, and I talked to Tina, and she invited me to come to a M.O.M.S. meeting. It was like, I could identify with them. It helped a lot. This group has given me a purpose.”
Ford, who always says M.O.M.S. is not a group any mother really wants to be in, said she’s in talks with Pa. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis to introduce legislation to provide financial support to grieving parents. A hotline has been established for anyone experiencing grief, particularly when it comes to gun violence. The telephone number is 412-426-3954.
“I’m passionate about this. This is my thing,” Ford said. “I’m creating a legacy with this group. My son is not dead; he still lives with me.”
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