Email Recieved from Cailin’s Memories website

Cailin’s Memories is a not for profit, 501©3 tax-exempt corporation founded for the purpose of helping families who have lost their babies from miscarriage, prematurity, stillbirth, birth defects, or SIDS. We also will attempt to help and support families experiencing infertility. Our organization supplies hospitals education and resources to care for these families through our memory box/packet program.

Due to the nature of the types of babies that we care for, we have created two types of memorabilia for our families a memory box or a miscarriage packet. Both have been devised to validate the life of their child. Many of the items are in both the box and the packet because these items are tools for life after the loss of their little one. Some items included are: a poem journal with a book mark; Cailin’s Candle, a remembrance candle; a silk flower; a pregnancy and infant loss awareness support ribbon; a forget-me-not seed packet and an angel bear.

With the start and opening of our venture we dedicate this lifework to all babies and the importance of them in the family unit. All babies will be honored with our work; whether they are born alive or not; if they are born 5 weeks into a pregnancy or 40; if they live for 5 minutes in NICU or 5 months at home; weather they are born perfect or imperfect…

We concentrate mainly on our lost babies since this area in particularly is lacking in our society today. We will do our best to raise the awareness of our plight and to show the world that our babies deserve the same respect and honor as any other baby--and in fact we will accept no less. This starts with our memory making of our babies, thus validating there short lives. It continues with our remembrances of them and the honoring of them through special rituals. It is ongoing for the families lifetime in the respect of their wishes by the rest of society.

Mission Statement: Cailins Memories provides support to families experiencing perinatal loss. ‘Perinatal’ defined as preconception through the first year of life.

Our Vision: We will strive to reach the broadest population possible to improve and maintain optimal emotional and spiritual health and well being. We support families experiencing infertility, losses as experienced through the adoption process, all pregnancy related losses and infants born postnatal through other processes such as SIDS.

Our Values: The way Cailin's Memories will provide support is three-fold:

1. The physical making of memories via the 'memory box program' provided to bereaved families. We make physical momentoes of lost babies by way of picture taking, foot and hand printing, foot and hand molding, etc. All momentoes are wrapped in a 'Memory Box' for families to keep forever.

2. We will provide education to families via handouts, support information (list of groups, websites, etc.). We also provide education to doctors groups, hospital staff, and any ancillary staff caring for families experiencing a loss via inservices, conferences, and 24 hour available help.

3. Community advocacy and awareness will also be obtained through the above activities. We will also pioneer new campaigns to promote our mission.

Our organization is currently in 10 area hospitals, serving 13 different nursing floors.

Please feel free to contact us through our website http://www.cailinsmemories.org/ and please pass along the word about who we are.

Thank you for your time.

Jean Rowe RN and Lesley Gorny-Hornbeck RN
Founders of Cailin's Memories, Inc