UMBC women’s lacrosse partnering with mental health foundation started by goalie Isabella Fontana’s family after devastating loss

Last year, UMBC women’s lacrosse partnered with Morgan’s Message — an organization formed by the parents of former Duke lacrosse player Morgan Rodgers, who struggled with mental health before taking her own life in 2019 — for the program’s Mental Health for Children Day.

This time, the Retrievers are collaborating with a group closer to home.

Senior goalkeeper Isabella Fontana and her parents Joe and Gabrielle created the Mia Fontana Foundation. Named in honor of their youngest daughter, Mia, who died by suicide in 2021, the organization’s objective is to decrease the number of children and teenagers battling issues related to mental health and provide support to those who suffer from them.

UMBC has invited the Mia Fontana Foundation to spend a long weekend on campus to reach out to its athletes and headline its Mental Health for Children Day game against visiting Manhattan College on Saturday at 11 a.m.

“Everyone has these Morgan’s Message games, and while that is very close to lacrosse, we also have a foundation that is dedicated to mental health that is very close to our team,” coach Amy Slade said. “So I thought if it was OK with the family and it was OK with Isabella, I thought it would be great. They have an amazing foundation that does great things for kids 10 to 24 years old.”

Mental health is an alarming concern among children and teenagers. According to the foundation’s website, suicide is currently the second-leading cause of death in young people between the ages of 10 and 24 years. And one in five children between the ages of 13 and 18 have or will have a serious mental illness.

Joe and Gabrielle Fontana of Chevy Chase were not worried about the mental health of either of their three daughters, Isabella, Sofia and Mia. Even at young ages, the girls were confident as they developed their personalities. Isabella was athletic, Sofia was analytical and Mia was social.

“[Mia] had this gift where she could walk right up to a stranger and just start talking to them,” Gabrielle Fontana recalled. “I was like, ‘How do you do that?’”

Mia’s affinity for conversation and connection, however, was limited by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic that confined many people indoors and forced them away from others. Joe Fontana believes his daughter would be alive if not for the pandemic.

“I think the hardest thing for us about Mia is that this was a kid that had just a very sunny disposition,” he said. “She always had a smile on her face. I think for us, the hardest thing was just knowing that she had these struggles that we weren’t aware of.”

Mia Fontana died at the age of 15 on May 20, 2021. Her absence is a topic avoided by Isabella Fontana, who did not answer any questions via email about her sister except when asked about the foundation’s importance.

“It has been really hard losing Mia for our whole family,” she wrote. “I think the foundation helps us all to turn her tragedy into a positive of helping others.”

The loss of their youngest daughter is a battle for Gabrielle and Joe Fontana, too.

“We grieve every day,” Gabrielle said. “It’s a huge loss.”

“When it happened, you’re just in shock,” Joe said. “There’s profound sadness and so many different emotions. But one of the things we were determined to do early on was to try to make something meaningful to help others come out of this. So very early on, we were determined to do something, and that evolved into the Mia Fontana Foundation. It’s a loss we’ll never get over. It’s terrible.”

While Joe, 63, is CEO of a print communications company, Gabrielle, a 56-year-old founder of a company that manages after-school clubs in Montgomery County, visits schools to talk to students about their mental health, often donating journals to help them cope with their struggles and offering advice to parents. “If we impact one person, it’s a win,” she said.

Isabella Fontana ended last season leading the America East in both saves per game (9.5) and save percentage (.455). She also was awarded her own parking spot in front of the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena because she was the school’s top fundraiser.

This spring, Fontana leads the conference in goals-against average (7.62) and ranks second in save percentage (.444), and the Retrievers are enjoying their second 4-2 start in as many years. Slade described Fontana as “a very electric, gravitational force” who is beloved by her teammates.

“She’s a really good support system for everybody,” she said. “She’s a really great listener. So it was easy for them to rally behind her.”

While Isabella is playing lacrosse and studying economics at UMBC, Sofia is a sophomore at Maryland who is majoring in both mathematics and psychology. Still, Gabrielle Fontana admitted that Mia’s death is never far from their thoughts.

“It’s always on your mind,” she said. “You have to still take a step forward. They’re doing what they want to do, but it’s still on their minds. Even though it might not show that they’ve lost their sister, it’s always there.”

Isabella and Sofia Fontana are very active with the foundation and often take time from their schedules of juggling academics, athletics and social events to help their parents design logos on shirts and hats and create PowerPoint presentations. Joe Fontana said he is thankful for their resilience.

“We don’t ever want to take anything for granted,” he said. “It’s a daily thing we all deal with. I’m grateful that they are both pursuing their dreams and passions.”

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