2023 Gala Fund Recipients
Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation: Perinatal Bereavement Program
The Perinatal Bereavement Program offers outpatient support and counselling for all losses at any gestational age. The Early Pregnancy Assessment Program specifically supports all losses under 20 weeks, while the bereavement program also provides inpatient support for losses after 20 weeks or following birth.
The program coordinates the hospital burial program for Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health, as well as the annual May Memorial. It’s also responsible for collecting and distributing donations of memory items to grieving parents, such as teddy bears, blankets, and print resources.
Angel Whispers
Angel Whispers is a non-denominational and inclusive support service for parents who have lost a baby through miscarriage, blighted ovum, molar or ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, or neonatal death up to one year of age. Families grieve for the baby they have lost and for the hopes, plans, and dreams for the future that included that baby.
The grief associated with the loss of a baby is unique, and families often feel like they have to grieve in silence because others don’t understand their loss. Angel Whispers is based on the fundamental belief that a healthy way to cope with tragedy is to obtain information, seek others who understand, and allow oneself to experience grief.
The Angel Whispers Baby Loss Support Program receives no government funding and relies on individual donations and fundraisers to sustain its services.
BriarPatch Centre for Grieving Families: H.E.A.R.T.S. (Helping Empty Arms Recover Through Sharing)
The BriarPatch Family Life Education Centre was established in 1996 and is a Registered Canadian Charity and a Non-Profit Society under the Alberta Societies Act.
BriarPatch’s H.E.A.R.T.S. program supports those who are touched by the loss of a baby during pregnancy or after birth. This grief program includes group settings, individual and family counselling, sibling support, a lending library, the Baby Steps Walk to Remember, and an annual Candle Light Memorial Service.
H.E.A.R.T.S. and the BriarPatch are involved in many perinatal loss activities, including the Annual May Memorial and the Annual Bridge Illumination for International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Their goal is to create awareness and increase accessibility to individual and family programs.
ParentCare
The ParentCare Support Society is a group of parents helping parents who have suffered the loss of a baby through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, medical inductions, or early infant death up to 28 days.
Meetings take place on the third Thursday of every month, both in person and over Zoom. The group also hosts the Annual ParentCare Candlelight Service in December.