Noah's Hope

In October the Fort Wayne area infant loss community comes together for the Walk to Remember: For Perinatal and Infant Loss.   Because October 15 is the National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day, this walk is held each year in October. It is a special event for families who have experienced the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or shortly after birth.  It gives them a chance to come together to remember and honor their child. The Walk to Remember hopes to increase awareness and remove barriers for families that need to talk about their baby. Noah's Hope sets up a table in the Resource Tent at this event. It's a chance to spread a message of hope and to connect with families who may have one of our bears at home that they received from a nurse and held as they left the hospital with empty arms.

  Noah’s Hope ministers to families in our city grieving the loss of a baby. The Numbers Did you know that 1 in 4 women will experience miscarriage, infant loss or still birth?   Did you know that each year around 30-40 mothers leave Dupont, PRMC, Parkview Randalia and Lutheran Hospitals with empty arms.   That’s 30-40 from each hospital.   Each year the Women of Headwaters prepare 200 “Noah Bears” for Labor and Delivery and NICU units, as well as 200 “Small Bears” which are specifically given in the ERs at Parkview to hundreds of women experiencing early miscarriage each year.   The bears are delivered to our local hospitals by Headwaters volunteers.   We also provide bears to DeKalb & Whitley County Hospitals. Hope and Healing Over the past 13 years Noah’s Hope has offered comfort to thousands of families in our community, including many in our own church family who have experienced loss.     What a privilege it is to come together as a chur...

The idea for the   Noah Bear   came from Noah's Hope founder, Kristin Koning, who knew all too well the ache of leaving the hospital with empty arms.  The first Noah Bear was given in 2008. Each Noah Bear is 15" with embroidered eyes and oh so soft and huggable. They come with a sweet handmade tag and hand-written card embossed with tiny feet.  The tag includes a space to write baby's name, date of birth, weight and length, as well as a special message from Noah's mom, Kristin, and the women of Headwaters church.  The hand-written card from Kristin speaks personally to the broken hearted and offers hope in a God who sees, understands, comforts and holds (Psalm 139).  These bears are given to women in the Labor & Delivery Units and NICUs of 6 area hospitals. ________ Since the pandemic we have had difficulty obtaining the signature bears we had been ordering.  Our 15" Noah Bears may look different from year to year, but they will always come with th...

The  Small Bear  began in 2018 with a conversation with our sweet friend, Julie Garmen, who understood the pain of miscarriage and the unique loss of "those we held only in our hearts."  Each Small Bear is 10" with embroidered eyes and super soft tan-colored fur.  It comes with a handmade tag with a message of hope and comfort. Currently, Small Bears are only given at the Emergency Department of PRMC and Parkview Randalia.  _________ Since the pandemic we have had difficulty obtaining the signature bears we had been ordering.  Our 10" Small Bears may look different from year to year, but they will always come with the same message of hope and comfort.