Every birth is a miracle. But sometimes the joy of anticipation is replaced by the devastation of loss. That’s when training provided by your gift to the Mack Pazdan Fund helps caregivers become partners in comforting grieving families and honoring lives lost.

Tanika and Chris Dillard lost their first baby, Destiny, in 2007 when she was delivered at only 17 weeks. There was no special support for them then. They went home with empty hands and broken hearts. A lot has changed since then. Today, your gift helps St. Francis provide perinatal bereavement training for caregivers.

The Dillards have now lost three more babies, Briauna, Madison and Gray
son. But they also welcomed two healthy sons, Ethan and Evan. Through it all, Tanika says the caregivers at St. Francis became family.

“We built great relationships with the chaplain and staff when Ethan was born,” she says. “They came to support us because they were part of the journey. It is an absolutely beautiful relationship.”

Tanika is grateful that donors support bereavement training and the Tiny Touches program, which helps families establish a connection to the child they lost as a permanent member of their family.

“The significance of the lives of these precious children is not determined by the length of time they lived, but by the number of lives they touch,” says Tanika. “My sons Ethan and Evan are able to see and feel items that touched their siblings. That’s important, and it is possible because of the generosity of people that care about the program.”