Local Advocates to Be Honored at the Afternoon of Angels

They all have proven to be true advocates to families in their darkest hours.

Rashad and Dr. Courtney Gibson, parents of three, founded a non-profit, Asher’s Answer, after the loss of their son Asher at the age of 70 days to a rare condition called Trisomy 18. Dr. Gibson is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Yale University/Yale-New Haven Hospital. Rashad was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in 2011 and is the President and founder of United America Christian Academy, set to open for enrollment by next Spring. Their non-profit provides financial aid to families of children born with rare trisomies in honor of their late son.

Emily Peregrim had to say good-bye too soon to her daughter Adalynn as she came into the world quietly on 1/25/2016. The hospital where Adalynn was born provided Emily with a memory box, providing precious items associated with her late daughter. As a way of giving back Emily began to create her own memory boxes and distributed them to hospitals throughout CT. She has put together and distributed over five hundred memory boxes to nineteen hospitals. She lives with her husband Matt and two children and has a Master of Public Health degree and has worked at Aetna for over 20 years.

Brenda Beard has been a nurse since 1980 and worked at Yale New Haven Hospital until her retirement in 2018. Brenda’s interest in caring for patients in crisis came after caring for one of her first premature babies at birth. She felt overwhelmed with fear and sorrow and vowed to learn how to help these families in any way she could. At that time there were no formal protocols for the care of stillborns, or support of families of babies born too early. She created the Perinatal Bereavement Program to provide this specialized care to families experiencing pregnancy loss at any gestation. This included the creation of protocols for nursing care, collaborations with Spiritual Care, Social Services, High Risk Obstetrics/Maternal Fetal Medicine, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (aka Newborn Special Care Unit) and community Obstetricians and Pediatricians.

Alicia’s Angels is a local organization with a nationwide reach. It was founded by Jona Sager, a former NICU nurse who recognized that while most children admitted to the NICU will grow stronger and go home, some babies are born with conditions which do not allow that to happen. Some families must create every memory of their child within the walls of the NICU. She and her team envisioned the creation of homelike rooms within NICUs that hide the sterile, high-tech environment and appear more like a nursery at home. A place of beauty to create memories. These rooms also provide a comfortable living space for families to live with the child for the few short hours, days, or weeks of their precious lives. Alicia’s Angels is just completing their third room and starting on a fourth in hospitals across the county. Sager stresses that she is surrounded by an incredible and dedicated team and that every member of their team is completely volunteer to maximize funds that go toward the mission. The Afternoon of Angels event gives them an opportunity to recognize and honor other people who reach out to those in pain and offer support and caring. To get tickets to the event or to learn more about Alicia’s Angels go to https://www.aliciasangels.org/