A Bridgeport mother who lost her son to violence has created a nonprofit organization to help other parents.

Nicole Matthews says her family doesn’t want anyone else going through the nightmare they have had to endure since her 18-year-old son was killed.

"Because nothing is more devastating than someone pulling the trigger," Matthews says. "You can't take that back."

Matthews created the nonprofit organization called "Tears to Triumph" in memory of her son, Shaahyid Matthews, who was fatally shot on Hanover Street in 2005.

She told News 12 that the initiative is designed to support people who have lost loved ones by helping them through the complex and painful process of grieving and healing.

"It gives me the drive to want to want to help another mother, to want to help another father," Matthews says. "It gives me the drive to push, in his memory, and to know that what I'm doing is the right thing."

Sen. Richard Blumental says while not all families served by the nonprofit are victims of gun violence, it's a powerful voice in the fight to address it.