2023 Impact Report
January 29, 2024
Verity’s Village provides encouragement, education, and practical support for families who receive a life-limiting prenatal diagnosis for their baby. Our vision is to change the narrative surrounding genetic anomalies from HEARTACHE to HOPE! This 2023 Impact Report examines these efforts to achieve our mission.
Before we launch into an overview of tangible results, however, we must understand something crucial. With a community and a mission like ours, we see the biggest impact in the hearts and lives of each of our members. We cannot give you a write-up of hearts that have been bound up by the Lord even as we grieve. We cannot create a graph that shows the loneliness disappear and the comfort of community. Our 2023 Impact Report shows numbers, growth, and services given, but we rejoice and thank God for the impact we cannot calculate. We pray that the unseen impact is always exponential that of the impact that can be counted.
CARE PACKAGES
This year saw an increase in the quality and quantity of tangible resources we sent to parents.
Welcome Packets
When parents enter our support network, they can request this packet free of charge. It includes our special pregnancy journal as well as our guidebook From Diagnosis to Delivery. The packet also contains more information about Verity’s Village along with the Cradling Memories foundation and, if a Trisomy 18 diagnosis is suspected, information about the Edwards Syndrome Association, a new partner with us.
In 2023 we began including a special, handmade gift along with our welcome packets: an infant gown provided to us by members of the Smocking Arts Guild of America Wee Care program. These tiny little gowns are a precious addition to our packages, providing a beautiful, tangible item connecting parents to their babies.
This year Verity’s Village sent out 100 welcome packages to families who received a prenatal diagnosis. Of those packages, 63 included the infant gowns referenced above. (We began receiving donations of gowns in the spring and started including them in packages from that point forward.)
Congratulations Packages
When a family receives a devastating diagnosis, they don’t know whether to plan a birth or a burial. There is no guarantee their baby will overcome significant physical issues and allow the family to have time on earth together. Yet by God’s grace, we have gladly sent 34 congratulations packages to families whose babies were born alive in 2023!
These packages include a NICU journal to use in the hospital along with some special handmade gifts for Baby and pampering items for Mom.
Bereavement Packages
A diagnosis is called “life-limiting” for a reason. It is a sad truth that most of the babies in our Village pass away all too soon. We are grateful for the opportunity to honor these precious lives and the parents who carry them to term. In 2023 Verity’s Village sent out 78 condolence packages to families who have lost little ones. These packets contain the book Sunlight in December as well as items to commemorate the baby’s precious and meaningful life, to include a gift certificate for a free artistic illustration of Baby.
International Packages
We are happy to send resources and gifts to families around the world. This year we sent out 18 packages to countries besides the USA.
CONNECTIONS
Our part-time staff member, Brooke Shambley, increased her responsibilities. In addition to serving as our social media manager, she took on some Public Relations endeavors, representing Verity’s Village at the CareNet Conference. Her involvement there led to not only making many mutually beneficial connections, but also helping us spread awareness about our mission and resources.
● VV contributed 3 articles for publication in pro-life newsletters/magazines.
● VV provided an educational virtual workshop for the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses.
● VV affiliated with AAPLOG and ProLove Ministries.
● VV was added to four resource lists to help larger organizations connect parents with a life-limiting
diagnosis to Verity’s Village.
Paraclete Counseling Services
Our partnership with pastoral counselors Allen & Patricia Cooke has greatly benefited our community. Since we connected in May 2022, the Cookes have provided 58 group sessions and 86 private counseling sessions (for 13 different clients). A total of 235 individuals have attended the group counseling sessions, joining from 22 states and 3 countries.
New Support Position
After working her way through training, Kathryn Kerr, one of our veteran moms who has extensive experience as a NICU nurse, came on board our leadership team serving as our Parent Care Coordinator on a part-time basis. The funds from our fall Run for the Rare event helped launch this new position, which provides individualized connection and support with the moms in our community preparing for labor and delivery of a baby with medical complexities. We expect Kathryn’s position and responsibilities to grow as our community grows.
RUN FOR THE RARE
This year’s big fundraiser was also a learning experience, as we hosted our first in-person event in Colorado. We had 94 participants (up from 74 last year) not only in Colorado, but also around the USA, in Canada, and in Italy. Thanks to our wonderful sponsors, all costs associated with the fundraiser were completely covered. In 2023, Verity’s Village raised $13,160.34 through this fundraiser! (Last year we raised about $4,200.)
MISCELLANEOUS UPDATES
● Our primary support group, From Diagnosis to Delivery, has 482 members currently.
● Our bereavement support group, From Heartache to Hope, has 160 members. It is a safe and supportive place
for those who are grieving the loss of a pregnancy, infant, or child because of genetic complications.
● Though we did not have time to devote to our YouTube channel, in 2023 Verity’s Village did provide a virtual
presentation about comfort, palliative, and hospice care, which served our community well.
FINANCIAL MATTERS
As we closed 2023, we noted with gratitude 14 monthly financial partners who give anywhere between $15 and $100. Their consistent giving brings the ministry anywhere between $675 – $800 per month, which is a blessing. Our monthly needs, however, are much more than that! The Run for the Rare fundraiser plus several large, one-time donations helped cover us financially for the year, allowing us to hire Kathryn, cover counseling costs, increase financial accountability and oversight by hiring a professional, and more.
Moving forward, we see the need to expand our village of regular financial supporters. But we also rejoice in seeing how God has met every need and beyond to this point. This is His ministry, and we trust Him to provide!
We could not have done all the things listed here without the prayer and financial support of so many people! Your prayers keep us afloat as we serve others in love. And the monetary donations we receive help us provide books, care packages, counseling services, and more to our Village members at no cost to them. THANK YOU so much for making our 2023 accomplishments possible!
If you would like to make a one-time donation or set up a recurring financial gift, you may easily do so here!