Flanked by members of the Mothers Against Murderers Association and West Palm Beach residents, West Palm Beach Police Chief Sarah Mooney walks during an outreach event organized by West Palm Beach Police along North Sapodilla Avenue in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday, October 27, 2017. The walk, which was attended by police, clergy, and members of the community, aimed to encourage neighborhood residents to come forward with information if they witness any crimes. [ANDRES LEIVA/palmbeachpost.com]

They know they’ll never fully heal — the murders changed them, they say — so they acknowledge their grief, keep their children from being forgotten and push for a Palm Beach County so safe that another mother won’t experience their loss.

On May 2, 10 days before Mother’s Day, the circle was made of 10 women gathered around a folding table, 10 women lost in 10 separate yet sadly similar worlds. Seven mothers, one grandmother, one wife and one sister shared what they could. For some, that meant recalling the murders with a succinctness honed by years of telling their stories. Others could only whisper their names.

Motherhood is reimagined when a child dies. That’s why Williams named the organization Mothers Against Murderers Association: M-A-M-A.

Yet she knows firsthand that the pain extends beyond the mamas, so Williams opens the circle of healing to fathers, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, anyone who needs a space to hurt.

Founded in 2003 and fueled by her sister’s pain of losing her youngest son, Torrey Manuel, to gun violence, MAMA is the club no one wants to join. In 16 years, the group has grown from one mother, Williams’ sister Georgie Dixon, to 430 women whose children were killed in the county.

“I didn’t know there were so many other moms who lost their children until it affected me,” said Sharion Gilbert, whose son, Shayne Fleming Gilbert, was killed in 2009 in West Palm Beach. “I share their pain and hurt. Every time I hear about a shooting, I think about the parents, the mothers.”