A Family’s Miracle
Do you believe in miracles? ICU baby volunteers see countless miracles in the NICU. One emotional story of perseverance and love is that of miracle baby Elijah.
“There were days that I fell down crying seeing all of the things he was going through.” No mother wants to see her baby fighting for his life. It was an emotional journey for Elijah's mother Rosa, but after 173 days of ups and downs, Elijah finally went home.
Born as a micro preemie at just 23 weeks, Elijah came into the world with an enduring spirit and with parents, Rosa and Keysler, who were willing to do anything for him.
They were at Elijah’s bedside at every possible hour in those early, uncertain days when he required many medications, machines and tubes to help him breath and eat. Rosa began the exhausting routine of pumping every three hours through the night and she and Keysler took turns delivering the breast milk to the hospital. They also alternated being with Elijah since only one parent could visit due to COVID restrictions, at that time. These daily trips to the hospital were costly so ICU baby helped by giving them gas stipends to absorb some costs.
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Join Us to Plan Our First
Walk for NICU Families
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Planning for the ICU baby Hope Parade is underway! This November 6, 2021, join ICU baby, other NICU families and friends from around our community to walk in solidarity to support our local NICU families. ICU baby is actively looking for sponsorships to underwrite this family-friendly event and for walk team captains to help encourage registration throughout our community! Together, we can create this walk of hope as an annual tradition on the first Saturday of World Prematurity Month! To join ICU baby as a team captain or for any questions, email Clara at events@icubaby.org. For sponsorship opportunities, click the link below.
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Our Impact in the Community This Year |
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ICU baby Expands Its Board of Directors
ICU baby welcomes Gloria Fontz Suarez and Ana Glass as they join ICU baby’s Board of Directors. Both women bring unique professional backgrounds and personal experiences to the organization. Gloria is the co-owner of Cymbidium Events, a boutique style event planning firm in South Florida, and has already been consulting with ICU baby on our next events. As wife to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Gloria is acquainted with many local non-profit organizations and we are honored she has chosen to join the ICU baby team. As a mother, as a sister, an aunt many people in my family have had one of their babies in the NICU. This organization is a gift to me in order to say thank you to all those who help the families and offer the services to them during the time in the hospital.
Ana Glass is the Director of Premium Client Service for the Miami Heat. She and her Husband, Eric Glass, have a personal NICU connection and have been supporting ICU baby for several years. "I am honored to join the board of ICU baby because it is an organization that means a lot to me and my family. Having my son be a NICU baby, I know firsthand how this organization helps families through the toughest of times." Ana’s Husband is the Head Coach of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, part of the Heat organization. ICU baby extends a warm welcome to these extraordinary women and thank them for their commitment to the wellbeing of NICU families in our community.
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National BoardLead Program
Extends Invitation to ICU baby
ICU baby is proud to be selected as a member of the Spring 2021 BoardLead Miami cohort. Partnership with BoardLead offers governance training and one-on-one coaching sessions that will elevate the high-impact of ICU baby’s Board of Directors. BoardLead also diligently collaborated with ICU baby to identify a high-performing individual in the corporate community to round out the Board’s professional scope. ICU baby looks forward to potentially adding a new member to its Board of Directors this Fall! Stay tuned!
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Calling Teenagers Who Want to
Pay it Forward
ICU baby is excited for the Youth Ambassador Program’s second term after a successful inaugural year. We are now recruiting new members to join the team and help spread NICU awareness in our community! ICU baby’s Youth Ambassador Program is for students who are a NICU grad, NICU sibling, or passionate about helping NICU families. Email vanesa@icubaby.org for more information.
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Now Hiring a Programs Coordinator
We are expanding our dynamic team! ICU baby is looking for a part-time, bilingual Programs Coordinator to help facilitate programs, plan special events for NICU families and manage communications. If you are looking for a meaningful work opportunity and have past experience, let us know of your interest! Email elizabeth@icubaby.org.
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Gratitude for Our Grant Awards
ICU baby relies heavily on foundation funding to maintain our support of local NICU families. We are so grateful to the generous foundations who understand how important it is to provide families with a critically ill or premature baby with the emotional, financial and informational support they need while their baby is hospitalized. ICU baby is grateful to Sunshine Health, The Children’s Trust, The Miami Foundation, and United Way of Miami-Dade for their generous financial help, allowing the ICU baby Team to sustain and grow our supportive programming. We could not help nearly as many families as we do each year without the support of foundations so committed to our community.
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Gratitude for Our Givers
ICU baby thanks all of the individuals, foundations, and companies who made monetary and in-kind contributions. We especially appreciate your support during this pandemic.
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Nathalia Ashworth
Maylin Fornaris
McKinsey and Company
Lynda Mosca
Silvia Garcia-Serra
Carol Twitchell
Mari Valdivieso
Lorna Williams
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Donors that contribute $50 or more in June and July are listed above. All donations, no matter the amount, are needed and appreciated. |
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Shout Out to Our
Corps Members and Interns!
Thank you to Anastasia D’Agostini, Clara Loose, Sabrina Quintero, Sharon Alfandary, and Stacey Alpert for their hard work and commitment the past few months working with ICU baby. Together they contributed more than 250 hours towards several important projects that wouldn’t have made it to the finish line without their dedication! Three of these young professionals joined ICU baby through Repair the World’s “Serve the Moment” program. We’re fortunate to have been selected again as a grant recipient.
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ICU baby's Volunteer Spotlight |
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Adriane Rodriguez has been an ICU baby volunteer since October 2019. Her daughter was a NICU baby and she joined the team to help other parents experiencing similar journeys. Before the pandemic, Adriane would visit Holtz Children’s Hospital every Wednesday offering parent-to-parent support bedside, delivering NICU Packs, and helping parents learn to use their Baby K’tan carriers for skin-to-skin care and baby wearing when they went home. While COVID has prevented us from visiting the unit, Adriane generously continues helping families navigate their NICU journeys through our Parent-to-Parent Telesupport Program. Adriane supports her families with humility and compassion and advocates for them until each challenge is met with a family-centered and whole solution.
Adriane has also instilled the value of helping others in her young children, by volunteering their time as a family to help prepare NICU Packs to be delivered to NICU families. We are grateful for Adriane… she is a light in the ICU baby family and the greater NICU community.
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Join Our Team
Are you interested in giving back to help future NICU parents? ICU baby is currently looking for:
- Former NICU Parents who are interested in joining our Parent-to-Parent or Bereavement Support teams and giving back in a meaningful way. Volunteers will either provide support to parents navigating their NICU journeys or grief support to NICU parents whose baby doesn’t survive. We welcome volunteers who speak English, Spanish, and Creole. Please email vanesa@icubaby.org for more information.
- All community members who are interested in helping us plan our ICU baby Hope Parade scheduled for Saturday, November 6th, 2021. Contact elizabeth@icubaby.org for more information.
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ICU Angels
Even the smallest of feet have the power to leave everlasting footprints.
We, at ICU baby, remember our NICU families who have lost their babies this year. They will forever be in our hearts.
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Photos for ICU Hope
Calling all NICU families … we need your Hope! … Please send media@icubaby.org a picture of your baby from the NICU and now! Please include the gestational age when born, birth weight, length of NICU stay, and how he or she is doing now. Please also include your social media information if you would like ICU baby to tag you. We will feature your baby on our social media to give current NICU the Hope they need during their toughest NICU days!
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