Our Story

In November 2023, we lost my brother, Thomas Alex McConatha, to fentanyl poisoning. He was hilarious and cool and compassionate. He was a warrior with a passion for helping others and that led him to dedicate his life to recovery work. Thomas knew what it felt like to struggle. He also knew what it meant to get back up. Over and over again, he stood beside people in the trenches because he had been there too. He helped bring hundreds of men and women into recovery and gave so many people hope for a better life. Then Thomas relapsed. We watched him fight with everything he had, going from treatment center to treatment center, doing the work, trying to stay alive, nothing was working. He couldn’t get a grip on his sobriety and while tapering off Suboxone, he took what he thought was a Xanax or a pain pill. Instead it was fentanyl and it killed him.

After losing Thomas, we were desperate for answers. How could this happen to someone who knew the ins and outs of recovery better than anyone? It opened our eyes to how deep this crisis goes and how many people are being silenced by shame and misinformation. What we found over and over was stigma. Stigma around addiction. Around treatment. Around the people who are just trying to survive.

So we decided to do something about it. What began as tribute page to Thomas and a grief-fueled cry for awareness has become a growing movement for change. We raise our voices for those who can’t. We educate about Narcan and tell the truth about fentanyl. We show up in the community, rallies, and recovery centers. We bring stockings to people in rehab, just like Thomas used to do himself because we believe no one fighting to get better should know they are loved and should never feel forgotten. More than anything, we’re here to challenge the narrative. Addiction doesn’t look like what most people think and neither does recovery. The Thomas Effect exists to tell real stories, offer real help, and dismantle the stigma that keeps people sick and silent. It’s about awareness and education. It’s about opening hearts and minds. It’s about teaching people how to respond with compassion instead of anger and how to give people their power back and help them build beautiful, meaningful lives. We believe in multiple paths to recovery. We believe in harm reduction and MAT. We believe in compassion and empowerment, education and accountability. We believe that every life has value. Every person deserves compassion and every person deserves a fighting chance.

This is more than an organization, it’s a promise, a movement. We are on a mission and will never stop fighting for truth, for change, and for the ones still here. This is a space for the ones still struggling. For the families who feel lost. For the people who just want to understand. We’re here to fight misinformation, offer support, and remind the world that every life is worth saving and every path forward matters.

~Rachel, Thomas’ sister