Still Remembered Project offers support for grieving families
Displaying some of the items provided to family members through the Still Remembered Project are board members, from left, Melissa Ibella, Pamela McNally Shaw and Lauren McLean.
Contents of the Still Remembered Project’s memory boxes.
Lamar Advertising donated space on two billboards to help raise awareness about the Still Remembered Project.
What should have been a joyous occasion for Pamela McNally Shaw turned out not to be.
“I was in labor, and her heartbeat just stopped,” the Castle Shannon resident said about her daughter, Addie. “They did an ultrasound to see if she was still moving. They did an emergency C-section. They were able to get her out, but they weren’t able to revive her. They tried.”
Shaw later learned she has lupus anticoagulant syndrome, a clotting disorder that caused the baby to have a stroke during the delivery.
Unfortunately, even with the advanced medical care available today, her story is by no means unique. To help others who face similar situations cope, she serves on the board of directors for the Still Remembered Project, which provides support and encouragements for bereaved parents and family members following losses from miscarriage, stillbirth and early infant death.
“I think that there’s a lot of power in being among others who have experienced a similar journey,” Lauren McLean of Bethel Park, the group’s executive director and chairwoman, explained.
She and her husband, Jason – he also is on the board of directors – are raising four healthy children after losing their first son, Emerson, to a rare genetic disease in 2010. A year later, she helped form Mothers of Angels, a Christian-based support group for pregnancy and infant loss, members of which formed the core for the 2016 launch of the Still Remembered Project as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
“It’s really an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people, when a baby passes away, even in early gestation as a miscarriage,” Lauren McLean said. “There’s their love for that child. There are hopes and dreams that are not going to happen. And so what I think is important that we’re trying to do is say it is OK to remember. It is OK to discuss and work through this grief journey, address those feelings, and if you need, help, find help.”
A key for the Still Remembered Project is getting the word out about what the organization has to offer.
“For us, brand awareness is extremely important, because when you have a baby who passes away in the circumstances we’ve experienced, time is of the essence,” South Fayette Township resident Melissa Ibella, the group’s treasurer, said. “So we really want families to know about us in their greatest time of need in a very timely manner.”
She has had two daughters, now ages 5 and 3, since losing her son, Cameron.
“We did an autopsy. We did not find an answer. They basically just told us there was no cause of death,” she said. “I was 39 weeks pregnant, and it was completely unexpected.”
The Still Remembered Project is reaching parents in comparable circumstances through social media and a highly informative website maintained by Marianne Schafer, vice president of technology and communications. And recently, the group’s visibility received a considerable boost with Lamar Advertising’s hosting of a pair of billboards along Interstate 79 near the Bridgeville interchange, with the strong prospect of more displays during Mother’s Day weekend.
Ibella, who spearheaded the billboard initiative, said she was inspired by Lamar’s support of the #SaveLucas campaign on behalf of Lucas Goeller, a young Indiana Township resident who eventually received a liver transplant.
“I thought that was so powerful, that a company was willing to talk about organ transplants as well as a child possibly dying,” she said. “So I just felt like that’s an organization that could probably stand behind us and believe in our mission.”
Those who want to learn more about the mission can attend the group’s first Always Still Remembering Luncheon, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. April 30 at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South in Bethel Park. The event will provide an in-depth look at the organization’s projects, outreach and vision for the future, which includes a brick-and-mortar resource center and meeting location.
Also, the Still Remembered Project is partnering with the Pittsburgh Pirates to hold a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day at PNC Park on Sept. 24. The goal is to sell 500-plus tickets, which will allow representatives of the organization to be invited onto the field for a pregame introduction and public service announcement.
For more information, visit stillremembered.org.