On June 17, 2023, we hosted our first-annual NICU Family Day Out! Though our future 4those campus and programming will be built specifically to focus on micro-preemies and their families, we plan to provide a free yearly gathering for all NICU families to promote our mission of connection, healing and hope after all NICU journeys. This was our first of many, and it was a HUGE success!

We hosted close to 100 people from all walks of the NICU and provided spaces for a variety of abilities and ages. We had a petting zoo, a ride-on train, face painting and balloon animals, coffee and snacks, infant area, art station, indoor playgrounds, corn hole and mini basketball, indoor tricycles and scooters, bouncy houses, and so much more.

Why did we put together an event like this, you ask? One of the biggest challenges after leaving the NICU is medical complexity. Many children face a variety of medical outcomes from physical abilities to lung and heart complications or sensitivities to vision or hearing loss to feeding needs to compromised immunity. Many parents and caregivers (and non-NICU siblings) must make incredibly intentional and careful choices to keep their children healthy and safe in the big world outside of the hospital, which can lead to feelings of isolation or missing out on the fun things life has to offer for our kids (we definitely experienced this when Zev came home, especially after the global pandemic occurred). What we wanted was a safe and hopeful place for these families to connect and start living out a new story that celebrates the journeys they have traveled. We hoped they would feel free and known in our presence.

We witnessed countless beautiful connections between families and siblings, memories being made, laughter and tears of joy, fun being had, and a general feeling of hope and celebration. It was EVERYTHING!!

Here are what a few of our attendees had to say about the event followed by some amazing photos from the day:

• This was a blessing

• We had a wonderful time

• 5/5 across the board

• Very welcoming

• It was awesome

• Exceeded expectations

• You are amazing

• Loved connecting with other families

• We saw how our stories overlapped

• We got to spend fun, quality time together

• Supportive, joyous environment

• So many things for kids to do at all levels

• We got to see my child just have fun

• We got to be with other families who had similar journeys

• I hope you continue to do these events in the future

• We are inviting our friends to the next one

• We could say yes to all the special activities for our kids we can’t usually afford

• Life-changing

• This was a special treat

• Today turned out to be more incredible than I could have imagined

• Just thank you