A Message From Barbara Theodosiou, Founder, The Addict’s Mom
On this beautiful Sunday, as we spend time with our families, as we pray, and as we worry about our beloved children, I wish to highlight for everyone the purposes and accomplishments of TAM. Of course, TAM would be nothing without you beautiful moms who give endless hours of your time supporting others, all the while tending to the stressors in your own homes.
Here is why I created The Addict’s Mom:
“I discovered within a six-month period that two of my sons were addicts. My first reaction was to become physically sick. I was completely lost in the sadness of addiction, feeling shock, fear, and confusion. As a woman of great personal and professional success, it appeared to others that I had it all. But, on the inside, I was broken and felt shattered into a million pieces. It was through my own brokenness that The Addict’s Mom was born. I made it my purpose to find every mother sitting alone in the dark, with tears streaming down her face, and to let her know that she is not alone.”
TAM is intellectual property, created and owned by my husband Rudy, and by me. We funded TAM with our personal monies, as a site on the Internet. Over the years, TAM has evolved from a support network for the mothers of addicted children into an advocate for reforms in the field. Now, with a membership of over 50,000, we offer many specialized groups, and have opened a chapter in every state, where our members meet in person. We sponsor events, we walk, we march, we light candles, we are featured in print and television media, we have won awards and recognition, and we are focusing the attention of our nation on the devastation of addiction for our families and our beautiful children. TAM is sponsoring laws, lobbying for reforms in the mental health and prison systems, and is de-stigmatizing our children, so that society will perceive them as victims of a deadly disease. In addition, TAM has recently published a book for grandparents, written by volunteer moms. TAM is offering bracelets and T-shirts for purchase. In fact, the pinned post this morning is of a T-shirt dedicated to my boy, Daniel. After the suppliers meet their expenses from any merchandise or the book, a small amount of money is deposited directly into our 501-C3 account. The account was established and is operated under strict Federal guidelines, as a not-for-profit branch of TAM. (Rudy and I have never taken a penny from TAM.) All monies in our 501-C3 are used to support the addiction advocacy activities of our foundation: Everyone’s Child, The Daniel Montalbano Foundation. TAM is fortunate to build alliances with several supporting partners. These accredited organizations are composed of resources and compassionate experts in the field of addiction, who help our members in a variety of ways: offering treatment scholarships for their children, funding events like our Fed Up Rally free breakfast for our moms, writing an educational article, or an advice column, attending promoting and sponsoring TAM events, and publishing TAM materials related to addiction. No longer a small group of vulnerable moms, TAM has become a force for change at the grass-roots level in every community. All TAM decisions are made for the greater good and the welfare of our beloved children.
Much love to all The Addict’s Moms.
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Visit The Addict's Mom at: http://addictsmom.com/?xg_
