Heather Roberts spent months unable to get out of bed in Shrewsbury before she ever thought about starting a business. A nerve condition had left her in agonizing pain, and making bath bombs at home became her distraction. That home project eventually grew into Mom Bomb, a charity built to help mothers in crisis.
Roberts was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic neuropathic pain condition that causes sudden, severe, electric shock-like or stabbing pain on one side of the face, according to Community Advocate. The trigeminal nerve carries touch, pressure and pain signals to the brain, and for Roberts the condition brought excruciating headaches that caused seizures, per the same report. She was confined to bed for 10 months in 2017 while dealing with the condition.
During that stretch, essential oils became something of a lifeline. Roberts told WCVB, “essential oils were really helpful for my conditions, especially peppermint oil.” She said, “I couldn't get out of bed for months. I started making bath bombs,” and what began as a coping mechanism turned into Mom Bomb, a business selling bath bombs made with natural oils and extracts, per Community Advocate.
From Bedridden to Bath Bombs
Mom Bomb got its start in 2017 after Roberts' bout with trigeminal neuralgia, according to the Telegram & Gazette. She recalled to the paper that the headaches were so severe that “for me it was causing really bad headaches where I couldn't even open my eyes.” Roberts has also said she bought supplies at supermarkets and lost all her money before the accident, according to Community Advocate.
Roberts started Mom Bomb as a charity, and she gives all proceeds from the business to moms in need, WCVB reports. The company now offers rotating seasonal bath bomb themes, including a blood bath, witch's brew, apple cinnamon and pumpkin spice, per Community Advocate. Mom Bomb products are sold through Cracker Barrel and other major retailers, and the company works with 3,000 vendors across the country and a manufacturer in New York, the outlet reports.
Helping Mothers Through Crisis
Mothers in need can apply to Mom Bomb for assistance that may include laundry, house cleaning and child care, according to WCVB. The organization's current online application, a Lifeline Program, states that selected applicants may qualify for one-time assistance of $500, according to Mom Bomb's website. Applicants may need to submit documentation verifying their financial hardship, and the site specifies that no direct cash payments are made to applicants — instead, approved funds are sent to service providers within 30 days of that documentation being received. The site also notes that its Lifeline Committee reviews applications monthly.
Community Advocate reports that Mom Bomb works with mothers to determine their specific needs and lets recipient mothers choose where the assistance money goes, with payments going to service providers rather than directly to the mothers. The outlet also reports that Mom Bomb has a board of directors that meets once a month, and that Heather Roberts and Kevin Roberts allocated 100 percent of profits and donations into $500 payments for mothers needing financial support following the charity's relaunch in January.
Earlier Recipients Tell Their Stories
The scale of who Mom Bomb has reached has grown over time. In 2022, the Telegram & Gazette reported that the organization had helped 20 women up to that point. Among them was Julie Lewis, a mother of three boys who was Mom Bomb's first-ever recipient, according to WCVB; Lewis received meal deliveries after being injured in a car accident. The Telegram & Gazette also reported that referred mothers could get connected with laundry and cleaning services, child care and meal services, and that Lisa McGee Bruce received a $500 gift certificate to Merry Maids from the organization on Christmas.
More recently, Community Advocate reports that Mom Bomb paid for one mother's chemotherapy treatments because she had no healthcare, helped a single mother and her son after a serious car accident, and helped another mother send her son to summer camp. Roberts has described the mission in personal terms, telling the outlet, “mothers take care of everybody. We are the family's nervous system,” and, “we must take care of the people who take care of us.”
Building a Family Business
Roberts has six children between two marriages, according to Community Advocate, and her daughter helps her keep up with current trends in video creation, per WCVB. Mothered Media named Roberts one of its 20 founder award winners, Community Advocate reports. The outlet also notes that Mom Bomb's website accepts $500 donations as well as a $42 monthly donation plan, and that Roberts plans to add additional brands expanding into pet- and baby-related products.
Mom Bomb Inc. is classified by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer under Human Services — Multipurpose and Other. Research into trigeminal neuralgia itself remains limited — a review published on the National Institutes of Health's PMC database notes that epidemiological estimates of the condition's incidence and prevalence remain limited, underscoring how little is broadly understood about the disorder that set Roberts' charity in motion.
