BUTTE — A Butte mother who lost her 33-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose in September has established a nonprofit foundation to help fill gaps in the city's addiction and recovery resources.
Heather Holland founded The Goose Foundation three months after her son, Aaron McArthur, died on September 8, 2025. Aaron had been nine days sober and was experiencing severe withdrawal pain when he took fentanyl one last time.
"I'm doing this for my son because I feel like I didn't do enough for him when he was here," Holland said.
The foundation aims to connect individuals struggling with addiction to existing community organizations already working to address Butte's overdose crisis. As I reported in October, Butte's overdose death rates exceed both state and national averages.
From heartbreak to hope: One mother's mission to save lives in Butte after losing her son to overdose
Holland described her son as "just a regular, average all-American boy" with good grades who was everyone's best friend.
"He took it once and was stuck, and he cried for help," Holland said.
Despite Aaron being nine days sober, he and his parents desperately searched for help as he experienced severe withdrawal symptoms. The lack of easily accessible resources proved fatal.
"I'm hoping that my doing this is me showing him that I'm still here for him, that I'm going to help somebody else that's feeling like he was...that wants help, that's crying for help and can't find it," Holland said.
Jennifer Breitdbach, the foundation's director of community outreach, said Butte needs better coordination of existing addiction services.
"We have a great community here, but it's all about having a comfortable place for people to walk in to get that help so that we can help them get the resources that they need," Breitdbach said.
The Goose Foundation recently received Montana nonprofit status approval, but faces a time crunch. The organization needs a fiscal agent to sponsor them while they await federal nonprofit approval, which is required to apply for a federal grant due January 7.
A fiscal agent is a nonprofit organization that provides administrative and financial support, including managing funds and grant administration, for nonprofits that aren't fully established.
"With it being the holidays, it's going to be probably later than the grant end date, so we need a fiscal agent to sponsor us until our federal nonprofit is approved," Holland said.
Holland said she's committed to preventing other families from experiencing her loss.
"I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to at least save the members of my community, to help the members of my community so that another mother doesn't have to feel and go through what his father and I are going through," Holland said.
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