https://amararosefoundation.org/

Amara Rose Foundation, Inc., P. O. Box 101, Westby, WI 54667, Westby, WI (2026)

01/10/2026

Don’t forget Narcan is free at Water’s Edge bait shop in Stoddard!

01/09/2026

We will also be showing two videos, and our education and awareness flyers/posters will be available for you to take and hang up in your community.

01/08/2026

This man has done something amazing for our foundation, and we will announce what it is in the next day or two! Who knows who he is?

01/07/2026

This is where she took her last breath four years ago. Fentanyl took Mari’s life, and it forever impacted ours. She would have had a chance at recovery if it wasn’t for fentanyl. She was an overdose count in one of La Crosse County’s most horrible years for fentanyl deaths.

She walked in the door, went up the stairs, and we don’t know what happened after that, but we know many people do, and we wish someone would let us know how our daughter spent her last moments on earth. Why did they leave her? Hours later, her brokenness, desperation, sadness, unworthiness, and hopelessness were gone, and she was finally at peace. We believe angels carried her up to heaven, where Jesus took her in His arms, wiped her tears and said, “It’s OK, Mari. It’s all over now.”

We were told that her last week alive was just horrible. She was reaching out to many of her friends for help. That breaks our hearts.

We took this video one year after she passed. We went to see what the night looked like the year before…we imagined her walking in the front door and going up the steps. We put a bouquet of flowers on the bench in memoriam. We did it again the following year, but someone stole the bouquet. Now the bench is gone, and the whole building has been remodeled, and we even know someone who lives there. The property management people were very nice and told us they’d talk to the tenants about a spot to place another memorial.

Anyway, you’ve heard some of Mari’s story over the past few days. This time of year is hard, and we know many of the parents we’ve met sure understand that. Our emotions will subside in the coming weeks. But our fire remains strong. When she died, a new war on fentanyl was waged. She joined the countless martyrs in this battle and did not die for nothing.

We’ve included her obituary in the comments.

01/07/2026

Grief looks different on fathers.

Jeff (along with Mom Heidi and Stepdad Randy) loved his daughter Mari with the quiet, steady devotion that so many fathers carry—protective, proud, and too often unspoken. When Mari died from addiction, the loss did not just take a daughter from the world; it shattered a father’s sense of purpose, of protection, of “what I was supposed to do.”

Society gives men very little room to grieve out loud. Fathers are expected to be strong, to hold it together, to support everyone else while swallowing their own devastation. But the death of a child breaks every internal rule a father lives by. Jeff could not fix this. He could not shield Mari from the disease that took her. And that reality carries a unique, lifelong ache—one wrapped in love, guilt, helplessness, and fierce longing.

For fathers who lose children to addiction, grief is often complicated by silence and stigma. They mourn not only the person their child was, but the future they imagined, the milestones that will never come, and the belief that love alone should have been enough. It is a grief that wakes them in the middle of the night and follows them quietly through ordinary days.

Out of that unbearable pain, Jeff was honored to build something meaningful with Heidi and Randy.

The founding of the Amara Rose Foundation is not about moving on—it is about carrying Mari forward. It is a declaration that her life mattered, that her story matters, and that other families should not feel alone in their suffering. The foundation stands as an act of love shaped by loss, a way for a father’s grief to become a source of compassion, awareness, and hope.

The Amara Rose Foundation honors Mari not by forgetting the pain, but by transforming it. It gives voice to families affected by addiction and shines a light on a disease that too often hides in shame. Most of all, it reflects a father’s enduring love—one that did not end with death.

Jeff’s story reminds us that fathers and stepfathers grieve deeply, even when they grieve quietly. And sometimes, from the deepest sorrow, they build legacies that help the world breathe a little easier.

On this fourth anniversary, Mari is remembered.
Jeff’s love remains.
Heidi’s love remains.
Randy’s love remains.

And through the Amara Rose Foundation, that love continues to reach others who are hurting.

amararosefoundation.org

01/05/2026

More often than not, someone using drugs will fall into a life of crime. This was Mari’s case. She did things she never would have done if she wasn’t using drugs. It shocked us and broke our hearts.

She spent a whole year in this jail, and this is the door she would be released out of at the end of her sentence(s).
Heidi would pull up on her release date(s) and wait, never taking her eyes off of that door. When Mari walked through it, Heidi would get out of the car, and they would run to each other and hug like there was no tomorrow and cry. “I’ll do better this time, Mom,” Mari would always say.

There was no intensive treatment for her in jail. That was one long year for her. She was being punished for having a disease. We sent her books from Amazon to read. She spent that year having Bible study one day a week, doing crossword puzzles, word searches, Sudoku, coloring (yes, coloring), fixing up her fellow female inmates’ hair and writing letters. Oh, so many letters, not just to us, but to other people she knew. Her words were deep, pleading and hopeful. She also gave her life to Christ in her cell.

When she got out, she tried to do better. But she faced stigma from within our communities, including healthcare workers at an area medical clinic. I witnessed it and was appalled. Mari experienced it and felt like dirt. She had trouble finding a job and couldn’t go back to college. Her family was also hit with the sting of stigma. People shunned us at school events. Her siblings would get comments from friends at school (and even some of these friends’ parents). We were treated rudely at stores by the cashiers who knew the story. Heidi left one store and sat in the car and cried.

She tried to stay positive. We tried so hard to keep her on a straight path where she could love herself and heal. We weren’t enough. All her treatments weren’t enough. She fell back into the same crowd, the same places, and four years ago today she had two days to live.

01/02/2026

Some of us braved the cold at Rotary Lights/Riverside Park yesterday and put our volunteer hours in. The tree—the all-important tree—held onto the names of our lost loved ones splendidly. What a BEAUTIFUL tribute to every one of them. If you hung an ornament, thank you, thank you, thank you. We want to give a huge shout out to some of the men at Driftless Recovery Services’ Driftless House. They helped us tremendously, and we can’t say thank you enough! The Rotary Lights supervisor came up to them when they were done and said, “You’re done already??” :)

12/31/2025

Four years ago today, Amara had one week to live. She didn’t know; we didn’t know. I woke up today and thought about our last conversation four years ago, and I still beat myself up over the things I said to her. She was getting out of the detention center and asked me for some money to make some phone calls. I hadn’t heard her voice in months. I was hurt, I was a bit angry and felt dejected. I was her mom…why had she pushed me away?
I didn’t understand addiction back then, not like I do now.
I have so many heart-wrenching regrets.
She was being transferred to a women’s house, and she didn’t want to go. This house didn’t have a good reputation. She was so tired of it all. I pleaded with her PO to not send her there, but my cries were met with deaf ears. She needed loving and intensive treatment. She was transported, and within hours, she ran.
I want to share part of her final letter to me. It will show you how much she struggled and how much she wanted to be healed.

“When I’m clean, I’m so sincere about changing my ways and bettering my life and being a part of the family again…then, it starts off as a faint whisper that I know is the devil. Every day the whisper gets louder and louder and louder until he’s SCREAMING, the loudest noise I’ve ever heard, and it takes over. Then, before you know it, the relapse doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. ‘Just once,’ it says. ‘It’ll be different this time,’ it lies. I refuse to be my addiction. I know my chances are running out. I know I’m going to end up in prison or dead if something doesn’t change. I try so hard every time, and it ends up the same every time. I feel so hopeless. I pray every day that something inside will change. Please pray for me. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I’m like this and wish I could go back in time and take back all of my mistakes. I love you all so much.”

12/30/2025

We want to thank everyone who donated toward the headstone! We have raised $700 so far, and the mother has been called. She started crying. Everyone who donated has been personally contacted, and a card will be sent to the mother with their names on it so they get the recognition they deserve. :)
We will keep the donation campaign open on our website for anyone else who wants to give in the weeks ahead! This is an ongoing campaign so we can help not only this mom but other families in the future.
We will keep the rest of you updated as we move forward!

12/29/2025

Amara’s Grandma Lee was from Norway, and we of course have a special interest in the country and its customs. We learned that on Christmas Eve, Norwegians place candles on their loved ones’ graves. This year we gathered at the grave and placed a beautiful candle on it. It stayed aglow not just on Christmas Eve but until we removed it yesterday. Imagine how pretty it was at night! A new tradition has started. We also placed one on her Grandma’s grave.

12/25/2025

🎄🤍 Merry Christmas from the Amara Rose Foundation 🤍🎄

This holiday season, we send love and light to all of our followers and supporters, to the families and friends who carry the pain of losing a loved one to addiction, and to those who are courageously working every day toward recovery.

Christmas can bring joy, but it can also bring reflection and longing. Please know your loved ones are remembered, your grief is honored, and your strength is seen.

To those fighting to overcome addiction: you are not alone. There is hope, support, and a future filled with possibility.

May this Christmas bring moments of peace, comfort, and warmth, and may the new year bring healing and hope to every heart. 🌹

With love,
Amara Rose Foundation
amararosefoundation.org

🎁✨🕯️

12/23/2025

One more post for helping a fentanyl victim’s family pay for the headstone…our website has the link for donations. ❤️

Amara Rose Foundation, Inc.

01/10/2026

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