Real Stories, Real Impact

Hello Bellis Community,

Over the last several weeks we have shared stories with you from a few of our participants describing their experiences of grief and loss and ultimately their spark of hope, healing, and growth through their involvement in Bellis programming.
In sharing these stories with you, we hope to highlight the humanity of the parents we serve. It is easy to get sidetracked, or even numb, to the seemingly constant barrage of traumatic experiences that occur throughout our society on a seemingly endless basis. How does one decide what to pay attention to as we can’t do it all? There are many worthy causes, all of them deserving of time, energy, and financial support, so what makes Bellis unique?

In 2023, there were over 1,500 parents in Minnesota alone who received a termination of parental rights or a transfer of custody for their children. In 2022, there were over 20,000 parents in the US who received a termination of parental rights. In *one* year. These numbers are astounding.
Bellis is the **only** organization in the entire country, quite likely the world, that is attending to the grief of these parents. And as you have heard personal stories from a handful of them, I can assure you that there are thousands more like them out there – each with their own unique experience, bound together by grief.

As you read the stories of ‘Sara’, Ashley and Justine, I don’t think one can dispute that these parents are deserving of compassion, empathy, and support. We can’t fix their situations, but we can show up for them when no one else has. And in showing up, we are telling them that they have worth and purpose beyond their past, beyond their mistakes, simply by being alive and human. And in helping them to see this in themselves we are creating the possibility for people to contribute successfully to themselves, their communities, and society as a whole. No one ever did better by making them feel worse.

The job is large. There are no two ways about it. And we are small, but mighty. With only two full-time staff, myself included, we are committed to doing more with less. I am proud to say that in the last nine months, we have added three more online groups, one specifically for fathers, to our weekly offerings. We are in partnering negotiations with 10 different organizations who want to implement Bellis services into their programming on a fee for service basis. We have just received an overwhelmingly generous grant from the Sauer Family Foundation to create a facilitator training in collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Department of Family Social Sciences that will allow us to train more Bellis facilitators according to our experience, researched-based evidence, and best practices. We are being asked to speak at conferences in other states so they can learn about Bellis and implement our services in their states. We have had over 500 women and men reach out for our support in 42 out of 50 states, as well as Canada and the UK. We are doing it! And with your support, we can do even more.

So, I come to you today with an ask for a show of support in our efforts, whatever that may look like. Sometimes it is with a follow on our social media pages, an anonymous $20 online donation, or an unexpected $1,000 check from someone who has never donated before (yes, all of these have happened just in the last week!) Each one is welcomed and appreciated. Much like the parents who participate at Bellis, we welcome everyone where they are at and invite them to continue on this journey with us, knowing that every effort counts. A million thanks to you for your time and consideration.

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