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Our Three-Fold Mission

 The three-fold mission of Project Seahorse is to...

             1. EQUIP current NICU families to emotionally manage the tumultuous experience of loving a critically premature baby

             2. Honor the amazing lives and experiences of NICU graduates (both those who survived and those who did not)

             3. redeem the experiences of all families, and all people who care, by allowing them to give something back to the NICU community

1. Equip

Every family who delivers a critically premature baby has experienced an emotional whirlwind of fear, joy, devastation, sadness, love, exhaustion and despair.  Every element of this experience is combined with the ongoing reality that there is a very tiny, very real, baby who is involved.

Project Seahorse's first tangible point of contact with a NICU family is through a packet that a participating NICU gives to that family, free of charge.  Each packet is a small backpack or totebag which contains...

                                        --a brochure explaining the project, with tips on dealing with a premature baby and contact info (click here to see text)

                                        -- the book Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney, for reading to the baby 

                                       -- a small photo album, to place photos of the baby and family

                                        -- the most recent issue of Preemie Magazine, for parents to learn about prematurity issues [11/07 note:  we are sad to report that Preemie Magazine is now defunct; however, as long as we are able we will continue to include back-issues, even while we seek an alternative cost-effective avenue to educate new NICU parents about relevant medical and social issues]

                                        -- a stressball with the Seahorse Logo, to handle stress

                                        -- a small Beanie Baby animal (a seahorse when available), to remember that the baby is never alone

Packets cost approximately $30 each, and we urge any NICU veteran family or friend to donate a packet to be given to a current preemie family.

2. Honor

We believe that every child who was born prematurely is a special gift from God, both those who survived and those who did not.  Whether a child was born this year--or decades ago--we want to honor them by sharing a brief version of their stories.  By doing so, we hope to send out the message that every child matters and has a place in our hearts, and we believe that some of those who read some of these stories will realize that they are not alone.

Share your child's story               Look through the dozens of stories on the We Were Preemies page

3. Redeem

No parent who has ever gone through the NICU experience would ever want to relive it--but just about every family wants to reach out somehow to other families who are going through a difficult time.  But how?  Part of Project Seahorse's mission is to provide an ideal opportunity to do just that.  By sponsoring a packet or doing a fundraiser or getting a local hospital near you on board, you can reach out in a meaningful way to a family who is going through the NICU experience.  And by sharing your story--and possibly encouraging someone else whose story you can connect with--you can take a small but important step in redeeming your own experience.