Mother on a Mission

No parent should ever have to bury a child, but that became the heart-wrenching reality for a Pascagoula mother in June, but that’s not the end of the story. This painful experience has led Ursula ‘Nikki’ Collier to a new mission in life to help keep others from taking their own lives.

As many parents prepare for the upcoming holiday and all its trimmings, Nikki Collier is bracing for the first Thanksgiving without her son, Jay Collier, who was just 24-years-old when he took his own life five months ago. “I know what this holiday was for him, and even as I purchased all the ingredients to go into the dressing, I would choke, because he won’t be here to enjoy the dressing this year, but God is our strength, our source.”

Looking back, Collier says there were signs of her son’s inner struggles and while she knows she can’t bring back her son, she believes she can help others from losing their loved ones. She’s turned her mourning into her life’s mission, launching ‘Jay’s Corner Foundation’ to help promote suicide awareness while preventing young people from taking their own lives. “I talk to youth. One of my recent, he unveiled that he had been battling depression, that he had thoughts of suicide. His mother had no idea.”

The foundation will be hosting a fun-filled, free event at I.G. Levy Memorial Park in Pascagoula on Saturday, December 8^th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free and currently a drive is underway to collect bikes for local kids in need. “I do desire to ultimately open a rec center in his name, so the youth will have an alternative.”

“If for no other reason to give one mother her child back, when she could possibly have lost that child because to lose something is to not know where it is. I know where my baby is. He’s not lost. He’s just gone home.”

If you would like to donate to Jay’s Corner Foundation or have a concern regarding suicide, you can call the foundation at 601-340-5954 or send an email to Jayscornerfoundation@gmail.com.