Press Release: For Immediate Release
From: The Tiny Miracles Foundation
Contact: Leelee Klein, President.
Social Events: NICU Graduate RE-Union Party at The Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk
The Tiny Miracles Foundation is hosting a celebration and reunion of families and friends of premature babies in Fairfield County. Families and friends of NICU graduates are invited to the Stepping Stones Museum on Sunday October 21st for a pre-Halloween party from 4:00p to 6:00p. The late afternoon event will feature music from Dre Towey with Sugar on Top, private access to the museum, food vendors, costume contests, crafts, face painting, and more. Tickets for a family of four are $30, plus $5 for each additional family member. Tickets are on sale at ttmf.org.
The Tiny Miracles Foundation encourages all families of premature babies to join in this event to connect and share their stories with each other. Research proves that the experience of a premature birth, even in cases where the baby survives and there are few lifelong health consequences, takes an enormous and potentially long-term emotional toll on parents and families, including post-traumatic stress disorder, extreme stress and anxiety, depression, uncertainty, guilt, fear, isolation, grief, financial hardship, job and work loss, and strain on marriages and family relationships.[1] Joining together with other parents of premature babies, and sharing stories, can alleviate and help heal many parents who may be struggling with some of these emotions.
With these critical needs in mind, TTMF’s programs and services are designed to support, assist, educate, empower, and strengthen parents and families of premature children as they navigate through their ordeal of a premature birth and learning to care for their premature baby and child at home. TTMF also enhances NICU services and promotes improved care and improved short- and long-term outcomes for the premature children themselves. Programs include one-on-one parent mentoring; a parent support network; in-hospital Resource Rooms stocked with a library of educational books and informational and inspirational resources; emergency financial assistance and essential infant care equipment for needy families; Tiny Treasures essential supplies and resources to ease families’ transitions into and out of the NICU; an extensive website (www.ttmf.org) featuring information, inspiration and resources in English and Spanish; bereavement support; professional referral services; bilingual support NICU equipment enhancement and staff education. All of our services are offered free-of-charge to the preemie population regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. Today, The Tiny Miracles Foundation assists over 1,200 local families per year throughout Fairfield County through programs at our four partner hospitals in Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and Danbury and services to the community at large.
Come join the other families of premature babies in our community on Sunday, October 21st at The Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk from 4-6pm! Sponsors for the event include Izzy B’s Cupcakes, Dre Towey, Costco, MeltMobile, Subway, and M and M Deli and Grill.
[1] For Parents on NICU, Trauma May Last, The New York Times (August 25, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/health/25trau.html?_r=1&emc=eta1; Congressional Record - Senate. Vol. 151, Pt. 4, p. 5655 (April 5, 2005); About Prematurity: The Emotional Toll, March of Dimes (July, 2009), http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/index_about_15350.asp.
