Wade has become an affiliated photographer for the non-profit organization, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. (NILMDTS)

Three short years ago, one mother and one photographer connected to form a non-profit organization placing professional photographers with families in need of remembrance portraiture. Currently there are 5,000+ professional photographers in 20+ countries who volunteer their professional photography services to the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. As a volunteer member of the organization, I would like to share with you how we are helping families in Knoxville and surrounding areas. When nurses or social workers at hospitals that have agreed to work with NILMDTS call me on behalf of a family, I then pack up my gear and head to the hospital. I first offer the family my condolences on their loss or impending loss, and then I get to work, knowing that the images I capture will be their only connection to that child once they have said goodbye. Some of these babies pass away at or near birth due to genetic defects, pregnancy trauma or stillbirth. In other cases, doctors have tried everything they can to help find a cure for whatever ailment the child suffers from, but the hospital then calls me when the family has realized all efforts have been exhausted and they will soon be disconnecting life support. In some cases, I am able to capture the last images of this child’s time here on Earth; In other cases, the parents are more interested in seeing their child memorialized eternally at peace, meaning once the child has passed and no cords or IV’s are connected.

Mission Statement –
Our mission is to provide bereavement photography free of charge to parents experiencing the death of an infant or small child through illness, trauma or stillbirth and to help them begin their healing journey.

A Brief History of the Foundation –
When co-founder Cheryl Haggard lost her son in February of 2005, she knew that her family’s healing was going to come by remembering details about Maddux, not by forgetting that he existed. Her husband contacted local photographer and eventual co-founder Sandy Puc’ and requested her services in helping to memorialize young Maddux. Over time, memories fade, but these cherished photographs will last for generations and help show the love that was shared between this young boy and his family, no matter how brief his stay on Earth was. From these beginnings, the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation was born. Today, the organization encompasses 5,000+ photographers worldwide who volunteer their services by creating sensitive images that will last a lifetime. We have also grown from an all-volunteer status to a small staff whose full responsibility it is We believe the images of these precious children serve as an important step in the healing process and that this opportunity should be available to all in need regardless of socio-economic status. To this end, our entire network of professional photographers graciously donates their time and talents to this noble service. If you were to assess a dollar value to each session, including the cost of travel to and from the location, execution of the onsite photo shoot, retouching of images, a DVD with a musical slide show and a CD with high-resolution images, it would equal approximately $2,000.

Our main web site, http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ has 1,800 to 2,000 unique users per day who visit an average of 16 pages per session. That equals approximately 30,000 page hits per day, or approximately 11 million hits per year.

Current Programs and Accomplishments –

Our most prolific program is our photo session for infants from 25 weeks until after birth who have been or will be lost to critical illness or stillbirth. At the family’s request, one of our volunteer photographers comes to the healthcare facility and performs an onsite photo shoot. The photos are then professionally retouched and presented to the family in a DVD slideshow format with music as well as a CD of high-resolution images. We provide this service directly to families, thus NILMDTS is not a HIPAA covered entity. While the nurses and social workers are the ones who call us 90% of the time to let us know a family is in this situation and to see if we have a volunteer available, they are simply the “go-between” to inform us there is a need, meaning we are not “vendors” of the hospital, instead we serve as guests of the patient just like Chaplains and Pastors.

To offer a supportive place for parents to grieve, we administer a Family Forum on our website, http://www.nowisleep.com/. We have received tremendous approval from parents on the forum for creating a place for families to gather and work through their grief together with others who have experienced similar situations. At this same web site we offer a second forum for photographers to counsel each other through their sessions and provide coaching to new members.

Please direct any additional inquiries to our Executive Director, Jessica Roe, at (w) 720-283-3339, (c) 303-588-9899, or jessica@nilmdts.org. The headquarters is based in the Co-Founder’s home state of Colorado.