Two Years in the Making

Oh Wow how time flys! I remember just yesterday the depth of despair and grief that I felt with the loss of my sweet Rose. It was the dream of this nonprofit that God planted in my heart that raised me back up out of darkness. I held on to the hope that maybe I could help other mothers too, even though my pain was still running deep. It was a hope that drove me to file the articles of incorporation within 10 days of losing my daughter. I stood there in the historical building downtown thinking this is good, this is going to be good. Our first year we laid the groundwork and we established our goals and mission. We established a board and we identified our core values. I also realized early on that this mission was going to take money and we needed to find a way to get some.

In that same year I started a popup shop to sell locally at trade shows. It created awareness around our mission while also generating income to support our core program one: Bears of Love. These bears are directly given to moms in the hospital who lose a baby from stillbirth, neonatal, or SIDs. This way there arms are not empty those first nights and weeks. After these two popup shops we were able to pay off our investment for inventory and generate enough income to acquire 20 bears. We had not solidified a partnership with any hospital yet, but we believed that the day would come that we could serve our community.

At the end of the first year, we received the answer we had been hoping for, “Yes we let Rose Mary’s Love Foundation drop off the bears and see how they are received.”

In all patience and hope RMLF dropped off the first bears of love in fiscal year two in September 2023. They were wrapped so nicely in the their rose bags ready to be received in open arms. They were rolled off on their cart and ready to be taken to the postpartum department where would await like Corduroy on the shelf. When the time would come, they would be given to a family in need. Within a few months we received a text that the hospital was low on bears. This was bitter sweet news as we knew many babies had been lost since then and many families had been suffering, but we were filled with joy to know that maybe these bears had offered a little solace in their life.

We are now 3 successful drops in with 50 bears given in the 2nd fiscal year of 2023/2024 to the hospital. We are now more excited than ever to increase our support in one major hospital in the Austin area to two. Our goal for 2024 in our 3rd year as a nonprofit is to strive to help more families than ever before. We will continue to raise money through the online business but will also need your support this year. This year is the year to Step Up and Step Out for a cause of a lifetime. Every donation makes a difference, so lets be difference makers!