Local Chapter Spotlight: Dallas

What’s happening in Dallas:

In 2017, Jenny Williams stepped into the role as the second Chapter President in the Dallas Chapter. With God’s blessings, and through the outreach started with the Dallas Chapter in 2015, the chapter has grown to over 575 members. 2017 also saw the start of our public Facebook page which enables us to keep our friends and families involved in what we are doing and ways they can support the chapter.

This year, we have assembled 750 Hope Boxes, and over the last years have grown to supplying 30 hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, and crisis pregnancy centers. Our need continues to grow exponentially, but we are confident that God will provide as we continue to reach out to these hurting women.

Within the metroplex, we have Monthly Gatherings hosted by Hope Moms in three cities. We also have three other cities that host Gatherings quarterly for moms in their areas. You can find us meeting in Richardson, Frisco, Fort Worth, Rockwall/Terrell, Denton, and Texoma. It’s a beautiful time of gathering together, remembering our precious children, and pointing each other to Christ amidst the heartache. This year, we also had over ten moms from the DFW area travel to Giddings, TX for the Hope Mommies Retreat and we are hoping and praying more can attend next year!

In 2017, we hosted a balloon release in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day and had over 200 participants. We also gathered together near Christmas, to honor our children and to take a moment to pause in the busy holiday season to reflect on God’s sacrifice and love to give His child for our sins. In April of 2018, our third Annual 1mi/5k for the Dallas Chapter was scheduled and then re-scheduled for October 13, 2018. We had around 600 people registered to attend.

Looking forward, we have an incredible ministry volunteer team of over 30 women who help run the daily behind the scenes work to support our growing Chapter. We are looking forward to launching a Care Team to minister to moms within the chapter, a HMDC Directory, a newsletter for those who aren’t on social media, and hopefully much more to continue to support the moms in our area. You can find out more on our Chapter Page on Facebook.

Hope Mom Testimony:

One week after we lost our son, I joined the Dallas Chapter Hope Mommies Facebook page. I was comforted to see events where I would have the chance to meet other moms in person. 

The first event on the calendar after our loss was the 5k, but I was too late to register and not quite up for something that large. I tried going to a support group with another organization, but the focus was solely the loss of our babies and I left feeling worse than when I arrived. The next event on the Dallas Chapter calendar was their monthly dinner. I spoke to my husband and decided to give it a try. He knew I needed something more. We grieved together but in very different ways, and while Jacob wanted to help, there were some parts of my grief he just couldn’t understand.

A little over a month after our son Angel was stillborn, I went to my first dinner. I remember being so nervous. I sat in the car outside the restaurant and called Jacob and said, “What am I doing here? Am I really going to go in there and spill my guts and cry in front of complete strangers?” He said, “Yes, you are! You need to be with people who understand.” He was right!

Here I am, almost two years later, still going to our monthly dinners. I have not missed a month, and I now host one of the dinners for our chapter. These monthly dinners have been a lifeline for me. It is the time I set aside to be a mom to Angel and Emmaus, my Hope babies. God tells us that when we gather together He will be in our midst. I believe with all of my heart, this is why our monthly dinners are so important. Meeting in person, provides us with the opportunity to build deeper bonds and relationships. Sometimes, you really do need an actual shoulder to lean on, and real hugs beat virtual hugs any day. Our dinners are a time to come together and share our hearts and remember and honor our precious babies. In this special time, we share our heartaches and our joys, our tears and our laughter, our loss and also our HOPE. Each time I leave, I feel a little more whole and I am filled with a little more joy.

I have been blessed to build friendships with some of the most precious women I have ever known. God has used this special time with other moms who truly understand to heal me, bless me, and restore my joy. I pray that each of you will find a way to get plugged in and make it to the dinner closest to you. You are so loved and you are not alone!

Pray for Dallas:

• Pray that God would orchestrate a relationship between the hospitals, churches, and HMDC in the area to facilitate a ‘hospital adoption’ type program to supply Hope Boxes. Pray He will provide the churches we need to match with each hospital we serve.
• Pray for our volunteers that give endlessly of their resources, energy, and time away from family to carry on the responsibilities of running the chapter.
• Pray for our current and future Chapter Presidents as they transition into a training period and transition responsibilities in the future as one term ends and another begins.
• Pray that God will continue to provide the financial donations that it takes to supply the ever increasing need for Hope Boxes in the Dallas area, so that we will never have to tell a clinic/hospital ‘no’ when they request more boxes to provide to moms.

Hope Mommies Chapters assist in our mission to share the Hope of Christ with bereaved mothers and families experiencing infant loss by serving their local communities through providing on-the-ground support in their geographical area.

Would you like to see a local chapter in your area?

We are currently accepting new Chapter applications.
Submissions will be accepted July 1, 2018 – January 31, 2019.

Learn more and apply here!