TheActs ForAdalyn Foundation
The Acts For Adalyn Foundation was founded to provide ongoing support for mothers that lose their toddler (12-48 months of age) suddenly and without warning. As a toddler loss mama, myself, I have a unique ability to offer support in ways that have never been available before. The Acts For Adalyn Foundation helps a grieving mama find a connection to a world that suddenly seems so foreign. In an instant, our world has changed, it has shattered around us, and suddenly we are left trying to make sense of the senseless. The Acts For Adalyn Foundation offers a connection for mothers that are facing the unimaginable pain of losing their toddler.
The foundation’s mission is to provide comfort and offer ongoing support to toddler loss mamas. Our support program is made up by our keepsake bunny, and online support community, a holiday ornament exchange, and an annual mama retreat.
Keepsake Bunny – This floppy eared keepsake bunny was designed to provide comfort to a mother that has lost her toddler. This huggable keepsake bunny offers a hidden pouch on its back which allows the mother to place a special memento of her toddler’s inside. There is a satin drawstring bag for the mother to place a memento in and then the bag is placed inside the bunny through zippered opening. The bunny is durable and made to be able to be taken everywhere the mother goes. Measuring 19” standing, this bunny is large enough to wear clothes of the toddlers. These bunnies are often seen in family pictures, on family vacations, dressed up for holidays and birthdays, in birth announcements of a sibling, or wrapped in a family member’s arms.
Online Support Community - Our online, private, community is a safe place for our mamas to talk about and share their grief journey. It’s a place to turn to for understanding and guidance from other mothers that have experienced the unimaginable pain of toddler loss. Together, we are able to honor and remember each child. We speak their names freely and find comfort in knowing that our children are not forgotten, and we are never alone.
Ornament Exchange – The holidays are extremely tough and emotional when someone you love is missing. Each year, the mothers have the opportunity to participate in the Acts For Adalyn Ornament Exchange. Each mother is matched with another mother and her toddler. It’s a chance for the mothers to share about their child and to talk about how they lived. Then they receive an ornament that represents their child. It’s a special way to make sure that our toddlers are not forgotten and a long-distance hug from another mother than knows the pain the holidays can bring.
Mama Retreat – Annually, in June, the Acts For Adalyn Foundation hosts a retreat for the mamas to come and meet in person. It’s a time of healing spent with other mamas that are living the same pain and learning how to navigate in their new reality. The retreat offers an array of activities to help form meaningful friendships between the mothers while providing a place to share about the toddlers. It’s a place where the focus is on how the child lived and not how they left this world. The bond between mothers that have experienced child loss is profound and for many of the mamas this is the one time that they feel truly connected to the world around them since the loss of their child. The annual retreat concludes with a memorial service, A Time To Remember, where all the Acts For Adalyn Foundation toddlers are honored and remembered.
In 2023, the retreat welcomed families for the first time. There were activities planned for the rainbow babies, the siblings, the dads, the grandmothers, the mamas, and the families. It is a tradition that will be continued in 2024.
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The Acts For Adalyn Foundation reaches out to mamas all around the world.
"One day you will tell your story of how you've overcome what you're going through now, and it will become part of someone else's survival guide."