Dear Bereaved Parent(s),

Let us start out by saying that we are so sorry that your baby died. You are now part of a club that no one ever wants to be a part of, but yet here we are.  You’ve probably already heard a hundred times over “I can’t imagine what you are going through”, but we CAN imagine what you are going through. We lived it, and we wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. Right now, you might not think that it’s ever going to be okay, but we are here to tell you that we had thought the same thing. After Rorie died, I (Chelsea) searched for people on social media that had been through the same thing just to see that it was possible to survive. You’ll never be the same. Somedays you won’t even think about it, and somedays you will relive it all over again. BUT, in time, you’ll be okay.

We created The Rorie Mae Foundation, because like you, we had hopes and dreams for a baby girl that we will never know. We only had seven hours to create all of our memories of her, and now, all we can do is spend the rest of our days making sure that she is always remembered and never forgotten. We want to honor her memory by helping others do the same for their precious babies.

So….How can we Help?

We know that you were planning on taking a baby home with you, not saving up to plan and pay for a funeral. We would like to help you cover the costs of honoring your baby with a funeral.

We know that losing a child takes an incredible toll on your mental health, and it can put a strain on your relationships and your day-to-day life. We found that counseling has helped us work through a lot of our struggles and emotions, and we want to bring the same healing to you. If you do not have insurance to cover the cost of counseling, we would like to help you.

And if you’re looking for support, community, or to just find someone else that has survived, we are here for you! Email us at info@theroriemaefoundation.org. Look us up on Facebook and Instagram. If you look up our personal accounts, we want you to know that we have been blessed with a daughter and son since the death of Rorie. We do not wish to cause you any more pain by sending you there if you are understandably not ready to see that.

Finally, just be gentle to yourself. It’s easy to feel guilty for still finding joy in your life or not being ready to be around babies or people in general. Everyone heals differently, and there isn’t a time table on grief.

Just know that we are praying for you, we are here to help, and when you are ready to tell your story, we have a safe place for you to share!

Derek & Chelsea Hendrick