Moms at Work
Our Hope Place for Healing
Saturday, July 12, 2008
It's a circumstance that too many of our friends have experienced -- suffering a miscarriage. Two sorority sisters and longtime friends have created an online space for healing and a tangible way for people to comfort their friends when, it seems, words are not enough.
Our Hope Place is a website started by Fairfield County residents, Sharon Stenger of Wilton and Laura Racanelli of Darien, to provide confidence and resources to help their friends cope, hope and heal after miscarriage.
The website contains journal entries that show what a woman might be feeling after a miscarriage and tips how family and friends can do it assist the healing and demystify miscarriage.
Sharon and Laura also created a special bracelet as a tangible memento of the lost offspring. "There are over one million miscarriages in the US each year," Sharon said. "Yet most people don't know how to help. This leaves women and their families suffering in silence."
When Laura suffered a miscarriage, her mother presented her with a gift, a bracelet that she wore every day as a remembrance. When her friend, Sharon called to tell her of her loss, Laura realized the gift she could pass along -- "something tangible I could latch onto," Sharon remembers a way to instill hope. Thus, Our Hope Place was born.
"Over the years, two things came together," Sharon explained. "Laura and I gave bracelets to several of our friends and family and we talked often about making a difference in this lifetime. How could we change the world? Are we doing what we were intended to do?"
You can purchase a bracelet for a friend or a loved one to help them start the healing after a devastating loss that is so hard to console. Go to the website www.OurHopePlace.com for more details.
The website www.ourhopeplace.com has been entered in the "Fast 50" which is Fast Company magazine's annual readers' challenge, a worldwide search for ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Fast Company's goal is to remind the world of all the good that's created when passionate people with big ideas and strong convictions are determined to make a difference.
Our Hope Place is a website started by Fairfield County residents, Sharon Stenger of Wilton and Laura Racanelli of Darien, to provide confidence and resources to help their friends cope, hope and heal after miscarriage.
The website contains journal entries that show what a woman might be feeling after a miscarriage and tips how family and friends can do it assist the healing and demystify miscarriage.
Sharon and Laura also created a special bracelet as a tangible memento of the lost offspring. "There are over one million miscarriages in the US each year," Sharon said. "Yet most people don't know how to help. This leaves women and their families suffering in silence."
When Laura suffered a miscarriage, her mother presented her with a gift, a bracelet that she wore every day as a remembrance. When her friend, Sharon called to tell her of her loss, Laura realized the gift she could pass along -- "something tangible I could latch onto," Sharon remembers a way to instill hope. Thus, Our Hope Place was born.
"Over the years, two things came together," Sharon explained. "Laura and I gave bracelets to several of our friends and family and we talked often about making a difference in this lifetime. How could we change the world? Are we doing what we were intended to do?"
You can purchase a bracelet for a friend or a loved one to help them start the healing after a devastating loss that is so hard to console. Go to the website www.OurHopePlace.com for more details.
The website www.ourhopeplace.com has been entered in the "Fast 50" which is Fast Company magazine's annual readers' challenge, a worldwide search for ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Fast Company's goal is to remind the world of all the good that's created when passionate people with big ideas and strong convictions are determined to make a difference.
