Who & Why

I am known to many as “MAMA DONNA”, I am the founder of MAAA, I have walked this walk, talked the talk and got the proverbial T-shirt but I almost lost my life in the process...

I was that crazy woman searching the streets for hours, after work, before work and on the weekends, just hoping to catch a glimpse of my child.  I found myself in deep waters and felt like I was drowning.

I learned what HELL is… “Hell is the distance between a mother and her child when she can no longer reach out and embrace them at will”.   

I believe that a recovery plan should include harm reduction, relapse prevention and overdose awareness.

I am determined to fight the stigma and discrimination that has destroyed relationships and taken life’s.

“The shoreline is always closer that it seems, especially when you realize you are no longer swimming alone”.

My goal is to help parents reopen a healthy path of communication with their addicted adult child. Respecting boundaries, while offering a safe approach to support a relationship built on honesty, love, vulnerability, and transparency.  

If you are reading this, know that my heart is breaking for you.

I am not a doctor or a health professional, I am just like you, I am a mother who has witnessed first hand how trauma can change a person’s life trajectory.  The most horrendous visual of this pain and suffering is the scene on our streets, in our home towns. It began in our homes, followed us to work and finally arrived in our schools. 

A pandemic has and continues to take our children from us, a pandemic created by mixing two unpredictable ingredients… drugs and mental health disorders. 

“When night pulls down her curtain & pins it with a star… I think of you my darling and wonder where you are”.

-Donna Ramelan