Hi Everyone!

The upcoming holiday season is supposed to be ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ But we all know, it’s these ‘special’ times that can really hurt the most. For many of us, the holidays are an incredibly bittersweet time, and a painful reminder of the little one(s) who should be there to celebrate them with us.

We hope this gift exchange will help brighten up the holidays for those of us missing our babies. Participants in the exchange will be matched with another Mom, Dad or sibling and can buy or hand-make their partner something in honor of their baby–an ornament, a special candle, anything! Participating is not only a great way to honor and include your child(ren) this holiday season, but a chance to connect with someone you may not have ‘met’ before.

Here are the details of the exchange:

1.)  Click here to sign-up, or fill out the form at the bottom of this post.

[Read more...]

For the past 3 weeks, I have been participating in an online photography class called Illuminate: Lighting the Path to Photographic Healing. This class, put together by professional photographer and ‘baby loss mom,’ Beryl Young, is designed specifically for moms who have lost a baby.

I can now say from personal experience, that this class is absolutely incredible. Beryl really out-did herself. It’s essentially one part technical photography training, one part emotional healing journey, and one part intimate support group. I’m just loving it, and am super sad it’s all going to be over in just one week!

But although my Illuminate journey is ending, yours can be just beginning! The second Illuminate session will be starting on August 24th and running through September 28th. I really want to encourage you to consider signing up for this unique opportunity. One thing that we are really passionate about at Faces of Loss, is helping parents who have lost a baby not only ‘get through’ the experience, or get to the point of being ‘okay’ again, but really use that experience, that tragedy, to grow and discover new things about themselves. This Illuminate class is the perfect opportunity to begin to do just that.

To kick-off registration, Beryl is generously giving away one free spot in the upcoming session. We’re calling this contest ‘Through the Lens of a Baby Loss Mom.’ Here’s how you can enter:

• Capture a photo that shows your interpretation of the theme ‘through the lens of a babyloss mom.’
• Submit your photo by August 10th, using this form
• Winner will be chosen by a panel of current Illuminate class members, based on the strength of the message conveyed via your image, composition, lighting, and uniqueness

If you are ready to register for the class today, please click here. If you win the contest, your registration fee will be refunded.

Thanks so much, everyone.

Love and peace,

[Read more...]

We are excited to announce that we have joined forces with Grieve Out Loud to bring a brand-new program to Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope. It’s called Voices of Loss (VOL), and it is a one-on-one pen-pal program, where parents who have experienced the loss of a baby can connect in an intimate, confidential setting, with someone who has walked in their shoes.

While we encourage everyone to share their story on our website, we know (and completely understand!) that not everyone is ready to talk about their loss so publicly, so soon. We hope that this new VOL program will be yet another way for grieving parents to find support and connect with others who ‘get it’ during such a dark and devastating time in their lives.

There is already a team of wonderful VOL team members (pen-pals) in place, but we are looking to add even more voices to the team! To find out more about what this opportunity is all about, please click here.

And if you are looking for support and would like to be matched with a pen-pal, please click here to start the process.

A HUGE thank you to Julie, Founder of Grieve Out Loud (and new VOL Director!) for partnering with us on this wonderful new project!

Love and peace,

Kristin

Founder/Director

Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope

Help us win a $25K grant from Pepsi Refresh!

Funding will allow us to create and distribute 12-page grief support booklets, train in-person social support group leaders, and continue to provide online connection and support to women who have lost a baby.

To vote:

1) Follow this link: http://pep.si/kzOEpR

2) Click the button that says ‘vote for this idea’

3) You’ll be prompted to either login or sign up for a new voting account (this just takes a few minutes and a valid email address, or you can even login using your facebook account!)

4) VOTE!

5) Repeat once a day, every day!

6) You can also ‘power vote’ for us if you have a ‘power voting code,’ found on specially marked Pepsi products.

As a way of thanking you for your support, we’ll be giving out lots of great prizes all month long for our voters!

[Read more...]

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there–whether your children are in your arms, in your hearts, or both.

Love,

The Faces of Loss Team

*The feet in the pic belong to Andy, husband of Faces Founder, Kristin, and proud dad to Stevie Joy, 5-8-10