In January of 2020, after a month of complications and questions, my son was born at 20 weeks and 6 days. I left the hospital with a memory box and no idea of how to begin my healing. One year later, I decided to honor my grief and my love for him by creating a library of books specifically for grieving parents. I shared my intentions to help other families and graciously, people from all chapters of my life came forward to support what is now the Baby Loss Library Project. We have provided books to grieving families across the United States, hosted healing workshops in the Hudson Valley, and supported other organizations in their activism and advocacy for grieving parents.
In the time immediately following my loss, RtZ Hope was an organization that I used to find resources and to network with other grieving mothers. Their comprehensive list of providers and organizations guided me to the support group that started my healing journey. When the pandemic hit and support groups were paused, RtZ Hope created a weekly virtual community support group. Through this group I connected with and felt supported by many that were feeling even more invisible in our grief with the pandemic pausing the world while our worlds had stopped already with the deaths of our babies. It was in that group that my ideas about creating Baby Loss Library Project began to form, and I was honored to join the Luminary Cohort in 2022 where I learned how best to support this community and steps to bring the project into its next venture. My ongoing healing is only possible thanks to RtZ Hope’s support for me as both a parent and now “provider.”
