Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Valiukenas

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

In 2018, we got pregnant with our daughter Colette on our third round of IVF. I was so thrilled, but I hated being pregnant. My dreams of being pregnant felt like they were just lies. I kept saying that I was going to write a book called, “Where the Hell is My Glow?”

Other than that, the pregnancy was going well and I was excited as we got closer to the end of the pregnancy. When I was 21 weeks pregnant, my mom instinct told me I should go to the OB. Despite the nurses trying to call and tell me I did not need to come in, I stayed true to my instincts and went. That instinct saved me and my daughter. My blood pressure was 188/110 and my OB sent me straight to the hospital. I was admitted for severe preeclampsia and told I would be there until I delivered. While it felt like my whole world had stopped, the world around us kept going and I was trying to stay in. Shortly after I was admitted, I realized the blessing and privilege I had that allowed me to be in the hospital without worrying about finances.

After three weeks in the hospital, doctors recommended delivery so at 24 weeks and 5 days, just barely over a pound, my sweet daughter Colette entered the world. She was whisked straight off to NICU, where she spent her short life of 9 days. While visiting Colette, I would hear from doctors and nurses that I may want to “save” my time off for when she came home. It hit me hard that so many postpartum individuals would be going back to work shortly after giving birth because of the lack of time off. That thought has stuck with me ever since.

When Colette died, I was lost. I was a mom in every sense of the world, but I did not have a baby to show for it.
I also became obsessed with the idea I had had in the hospital about providing financial assistance to families who experienced similar issues as we did. I did not intend to start a nonprofit and in fact, was very much against what I had always said—I will never, ever start a nonprofit of my own. But, as I did my research, as I talked to those who worked on the front lines, I realized I had to start this. It became my purpose, the reason why I had survived this terrible ordeal, and the way I would parent Colette.

I figured the concept was easy. I would communicate with hospitals, tell them I had this resource, and families would flock to us. But, as I would quickly learn, hospitals were filled with red tape, bureaucracy, and suddenly I had to be creative. I spent lots of time on social media, posting and commenting in groups, scouring Go Fund Me looking for cases where we could help and sharing our information. For the first six months to a year of operation, if someone was willing to listen, I was willing to talk. People were impressed by what we had created and what we were doing, but we did not see the applications roll in. I felt like a failure, I felt like banging my head against the wall, and worst of all, I felt like once again, I was failing Colette. I kept having to pivot, to push, to come up with new and creative ways to connect with others who may need services.

In November 2018, almost three months after we launched, we had our first application and I was thrilled to provide some financial support for the family. But, the number of applications remained low for probably a year or so, and in the meantime, I kept doing what I had done—making connections, looking for who could best be an ambassador, a connector, and more.

Early 2020 was when we started to really see the impact and the need. It started to explode and today, a little over five years from our beginning, we have helped more than 2,500 families in 50 states, giving away more than $1.5 million in assistance.

Our ability to help families is based on the money we raise and I have a goal to raise an additional $50,000 by the end of 2024 which will allow us to help approximately 100 more families in 2025.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

It has been far from a smooth road.

Struggles
* Getting the word out about the work we do in order to get applications
* Raising money in order to help more families
* Balancing work with being a mom to my 4 year old son

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation?

We are best known for our financial assistance program, which provides assistance to families dealing with high-risk and complicated pregnancies, nicu stays, and loss.

Some things that make us unique:
* We cover all three areas–pregnancy, nicu, and loss
* We cover cases of high-risk and complicated pregnancy, which to the best of our knowledge, no one else is doing
* We assist in every category of loss (stillborn, miscarriage, infant death, and more).
* We do not have geographic or hospital-based restrictions so we can help a family in any part of the U.S.
* We have helped families in all 50 states
* Our applications are reviewed individually by the founders of the organization, who have personal experience in all three areas
* We do not have set categories or amounts that we pay, we look at each application and try to help as much as possible
* We have a very quick turnaround and have often been cited as having the quickest response time of any financial assistance program . If an application and verification are submitted by Thursday at 5 p.m. get reviewed that weekend and a decision letter is emailed to the family by the end of the day Monday
* We give assistance upfront and do not require families to pay so we can reimburse

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.colettelouise.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colettelouisetisdahl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colettetisdahl
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTisdahl
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecolettelouisetisdahlfou3831
• Other: https://colettelouise.com/donate/

Image Credits

Tiffany Chiappetta

now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Stephanie T. Adams