Local Chapter Spotlight: West Texas

What’s happening in West Texas:

The West Texas chapter was formed in May 2016 to help support the mission of Hope Mommies by sharing the hope of Jesus Christ and creating a network of local support to help with the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of a grieving family. We provide this support in the larger communities of Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, San Angelo, and Abilene, as well as the smaller communities within 50-100 miles of these major cities. Sadly, our chapter has grown so much in the three years it has existed! What began with a small group of five volunteers and a few moms meeting once a month has now become a thriving chapter with 12 women serving on our Leadership team and 25+ local volunteers serving within our four cities. In order to reach out to the community of West Texas, we have many partnerships with hospitals, funeral homes, doctor’s offices, businesses, and churches in these cities, and we are always working to expand awareness and partnerships with anyone that serves the loss community in West Texas. God has richly blessed our chapter with so many wonderful women, and while we wish we didn’t have to exist, we are so glad our chapter is available to these families to know they aren’t alone.

With hope boxes being the heart and soul of Hope Mommies we are so excited to have Hope Boxes in 12 West Texas hospitals, three OB clinics, two Funeral homes, and a couple other support centers, with hopes of many more in the future. We host chapter gatherings to put together these boxes 2-4 times a year where we invite hope moms, families, and the community to join us. We also have a request form where Hope Moms, friends, or family can request boxes to be given to those who have not received a hope box.

• In 2016 HMWTX assembled and provided around 100 boxes to WTX families
• In 2017 HMWTX assembled 300 boxes and had 3 families with personal gatherings provide 160 boxes making a total of around 460 boxes available for WTX
• In 2018 HMWTX has already made 240 boxes with a minimum of 200 more needed to supply the demand.

Our chapter also provides monthly social gatherings in each of our cities to give local support to grieving mothers, as well as family events planned a couple times a year, and two craft nights for Mother’s Day and Christmas. These are great to help provide the in-person support and community that so many long for after their loss. Life-long friendships are made, and an environment where everyone feels seen and heard and knows that they are not alone is created.

Something new to our chapter within the last year is our Care and Prayer team, which provides the extra love and care on hope baby’s days of remembrance. Every hope mom that fills out our HMWTX directory and provides us with their hope baby information will be given a small gift at least once, and then cards on subsequent years letting them know that we are praying for them and remembering their sweet baby with them. We currently have 160 moms who have filled out our HMWTX directory who we send love to, and we want every WTX mom/family to feel loved and know that their baby is loved, cherished, and never forgotten.

Our fundraisers and memorial events are a big thing that also make up our chapter. We host t-shirt sales annually with unique designs created by our fundraising team. The sale is hosted online and additional merchandise is available at the annual Hope Mommies retreats, our chapter events, and through online flash sales from time to time. Our next sale is estimated to be Spring of 2019, but we will also have a couple flash sales of our current merchandise before then on our chapter Facebook page. Our chapter hosts and also partners with many local ministries supporting the loss community that provide events for the October 15^th Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness day. The biggest Chapter wide event we host is our 5K/1 mile fun run in Abilene, Texas. We have hosted two now, both in April, and each was a huge success that provided much needed funds, but most importantly a place for West Texas families to come together to remember their babies gone too soon. Our 5K event weekend includes a Friday Fellowship for hope moms only with dinner and a guest speaker, and our big family event the following Saturday includes a 5K and 1 mile fun run, a silent auction, a hope baby memorial, live music, bounce houses and other family entertainment, and a balloon release. We hope to continue hosting this event in the future and appreciate all the support we have received from all of our many sponsors, family, friends, churches, and local communities.

We fully support and encourage participation in Hope Mommies events such as the annual retreats, which we offer scholarships for and have been able to provide four full scholarships for Chapter Hope Moms since 2017. We also participate in Hope Groups and are hosting two in-person groups in San Angelo and Abilene for this fall session, and hope to expand the availability of these in-person Bible studies in the spring.

Leading the West Texas Chapter as the president for the last three years has been one of the biggest blessings in my life, since losing my firstborn daughter, Blair Nicole in 2011. It has been a role that I have taken very seriously, and has been an absolute joy in my life. I have loved serving Hope Mommies in this capacity, and so many blessings have come from saying yes to the Lord’s call on my life to start this chapter. I have made some of my dearest friends, watched as the Lord brought in funds upon funds to continue our mission, and I’ve gotten to see how much this ministry has touched each of the moms we serve through the countless emails, messages, encouragement, involvement, growth, and support we have received. We are truly doing the Lord’s work together and it has been awesome to be a part of it!

Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/HMWestTexas

Hope Mom Testimonies:

“My husband and I were traveling when we lost our little girl, Florence. When we arrived back home, still being somewhat new to the area, we felt almost out of touch and incredibly far away from our usual support systems. The Hope Box I received, specifically the handwritten note from another bereaved mom, led me to a support group of women who helped me feel connected, inspired me to look beyond my immediate grief, and ultimately strengthened my relationship with God. I am forever grateful for friendships made.”

“After losing my twin boys in June 2018, I felt incredibly lost and alone. But as I opened my Hope Box and dove into the Anchored Bible study, I felt hope and comfort knowing other women were able to survive the unimaginable heartache of losing a child by leaning on God. I joined the HM West TX chapter and attended a box event less than a month after saying goodbye to my boys, and I was overwhelmed by the love, compassion, and support I was shown. To be part of a group of kind, strong, God-centered women that allows me to honor my sons while serving the Lord and helping future Hope moms has been incredibly healing, and has helped me grow in my relationship with Christ. I cannot express deeply enough my gratitude for the women of the West TX chapter and Hope Mommies for helping me find hope, light, and love in the darkest of my days.”

Pray for West Texas:

• Pray for more women and families to be reached with the hope of Jesus, and ultimately be pointed to our chapter for the support they need as they navigate life after loss.Pray for the future transitions of our leadership team and for the right women to join our team and ultimately have the potential of leading this chapter as future president.Pray for more doors to open as we plan and implement more fundraising events to support our growing chapter

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!