Mother’s Involved Against Gun Violence partners with Lifeline Counseling to help mothers heal.

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -Two years ago, Nija Hill’s son Chavan Scruggs was shot and killed outside Figures Park when he was just 16 years old. That led her to create Mothers Involved Against Gun Violence last November as a way to bring mothers together who have or are going through the same pain that she did. She says the group has grown to around 150 members since then.

“80% of those are mothers who have lost their children,” said Nija Hill. “It’s something that happens unfortunately in life and I’m just happy to have this group to help these mothers.”

Over the last year, the group has had events to rally against gun violence while also offering support to help each other grieve. Now thanks to a partnership with Lifelines Counseling Services they hope to help each other heal.

“Often times if support groups don’t have therapeutic structures to match their levels of grief or the progression through their levels of grief they can get stuck in that complicated grief and that was something she was experiencing,” said Kenishia Pritchett.

Kenishia Pritchett with Lifelines Counseling says adding this therapeutic element can help the members understand grief and give them strategies to help them process it.

“When you never have that discussion, you run the risk of not knowing and it’s a constant cycle of you’re feeling those emotions instead of acknowledging those emotions, sitting in those feelings, and figuring out and figuring out how to continue with your life,” said Pritchett.

Lifelines and Mothers Involved has already had one meeting with a small group of mothers and their families. Hill says it should go a long way to helping everyone move forward.

“They were happy about it, and I think it’s something they’ll be looking forward to monthly. We’re all excited about trying to move forward from grieving,” said Hill.

Mothers Involved Against Gun Violence will have a support group meeting at Lifelines every third Thursday of the month. If you’re someone who has lost a loved one and want more information you can email nija.hill@cityofmobile.org or kpritchett@lifelinesmobile.org.

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