Helen James Foundation
HJF honors our angel Helen James Long who was born sleeping on June 5, 2018. It supports grieving families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss or infertility.
Visit our website at helenjamesfoundation.org or follow us on Instagram via @helenjamesfoundation
June 2021 Update
Events
We are thrilled to announce that the Foundation will be holding its first annual golf tournament on Monday, September 13th in Memphis, Tennessee. The tournament format will be a four-man scramble. There are plenty of opportunities to participate (even for those who are not golfers). Please click here to learn more about participation and sponsorship information. We hope that you can join us and look forward to a fun day with friends and family.
HJF will continue to sponsor the light show on the Big River Crossing and Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis, Tennessee in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day on Friday, October 15th. As done in 2020, there will be a moment of reflection and candle lighting to honor babies lost to miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death.
HJF Mission and Website
The Foundation updated its overall mission to include infertility in January of this year. We have many friends, including board members, who have been affected by infertility and we felt it was only a natural fit to add this to our mission. We have partnered with numerous organizations to help promote awareness and provide support where we can.
In addition, we launched the Helen James Foundation website earlier in the year and hope that you will take the opportunity to check it out when you have a moment.
Cuddle Cot Recipients
Dallas, Texas has been a city close to our hearts for many years. My sister attended college there and lived in the city for many years. We have numerous family members and close friends along with work colleagues in the area as well. Our dear friends lost their baby to stillbirth there and did not have access to a Cuddle Cot. Neither did another Dallas family with whom we have recently connected to through the Helen James Foundation. We are working to connect with the decision makers at several hospitals in the area and hope to make donations later in the year. We will share a more detailed update in the coming months as those discussions develop.
August 31, 2020 Update
Hi Everyone,
Joel and I hope that you and your families are staying healthy and safe and doing as well as you can during such a tumultuous time. As we approached what would have been Helen's 2nd birthday on June 5, Joel and I made the decision to pause our fundraising efforts for the Helen James Foundation given the current state of the world. We spent much time over the course of the summer discussing with friends and family alternative ways to continue the foundation's mission. A friend of ours who also lost her baby to stillbirth recently helped inspire the idea to create a mask with the proceeds going to Helen's foundation. Joel and I loved this idea and thought this was a special way to bring awareness to pregnancy and infant loss. We worked with Henry Dry Goods out of Lexington, KY and are thrilled with the attached finished product. Please see below regarding information on how to order your Helen James mask.
Helen James Mask Ordering Details
Price $18 per mask
Adult and Kid sizes are available
Link to order: https://www.
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month with a national day of remembrance on the 15th. Communities across the world show support with candlelight vigils and international waves of light. The Helen James Foundation has worked with Mighty Lights in Memphis to have a light show on both the Hernando Desoto Bridge and Big River Crossing on the Mississippi River the evening of Thursday, October 15th. The light show will run at the top and middle of every hour beginning at sundown until the finale at 10:30pm. We plan to light candles at 7pm on Big River Crossing as we remember those little lives gone too soon. We hope that you can join us and will share more details in the coming weeks.
Joel and I are beyond thankful for your ongoing support as we continue to honor our Helen James.
All Our Love,
Emily, Joel and George
Helen James Foundation
Instagram: @helenjamesfoundation
https://www.
Donation Update: https://donorbox.org/
Website Update: We are currently in the process of developing a website for the foundation and will share that once it is ready.
August 5, 2019 Update
Here is the latest update on our fundraising efforts.
Since June of 2018, we have raised $41,064.08 and have been been able to donate EIGHT Cuddle Cots along with replacement kits to the following hospitals thanks to generous family, friends and even strangers.
Saint Thomas Midtown in Nashville, TN (the hospital where Helen was born)
Saint Thomas Rutherford County in Murfreesboro, TN
Saint Thomas McMinnville in McMinnville, TN
Germantown Methodist in Memphis, TN
Baptist Women's Hospital in Memphis, TN
Regional One Health (formerly The Med) in Memphis, TN
Northwestern Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, IL
Additionally, we were able to donate funds to help with the construction of a new Family Bereavement Room at Saint Thomas Midtown. The room is in the labor and delivery unit and is for families who have experienced the loss of a child. It will be a space for families to spend time with their baby after delivery. They will be able to give their child a bath, dress them and create hand and foot imprints keepsakes in a private space.
Joel and I are firm believers that the Cuddle Cot is a crucial part of acceptance and healing when experiencing the loss of a baby. We will always cherish our three days with Helen and will forever be grateful for the time the Cuddle Cot gave us with her. Helen has been able to help other families through the Cuddle Cot donations and we have heard and continue to hear of families who have been using her specific Cuddle Cots. Our hearts break for those families, but we are thankful that they are experiencing that extra time with their baby as we were able to with Helen.
24,000 babies are delivered stillborn in the United States every year. For parents, saying goodbye to their baby is the first step in a long grieving process. The Cuddle Cot helps to make that journey a little easier. The Cuddle Cot is a cooling device that preserves a stillborn baby’s body in a bassinet or crib, so that he or she can remain in a hospital room with the mother and father for up to five days. A baby’s presence with family is a priceless gift that helps to heal this most painful loss. When a family can hold, sing and rock their baby and allow siblings and extended family to share in the love, remarkable redemption can start to lift suffering.
Your generous donation will give families the gift of time and offer comfort as they mourn the loss of their precious child.
Learn more about the Cuddle Cot as well as our specific journey via the links below.
Today Show Parenting Team
The Silver Lining of Quarantine
The Tennessean
Cuddle Cot gives grieving parents precious extra days with their stillborn baby girl
Daily Memphian
Regional One Health Foundation