Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carrie Schmitt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carrie, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I have been in social services/non-profit and helping others for over 18 years. Working with adults with disabilities was very meaningful work. The trajectory of my life changed when my 7 year old son died suddenly and I was left with a shattered heart and a 3 1/2 year old son with debilitating anxiety. I felt helpless and did not know where to turn. I surrendered because I had no idea how to help him. Thankfully, I was introduced to a local non-profit who helped families whose children had cancer, which is what my son died of, 6 days after diagnosis. They had a play therapist that worked with grieving children and this organization also funded the therapy. The therapy helped my son but it also helped me because I was ill-equipped to deal with a grieving anxious child. I knew then that I wanted to offer this service to other families who had experience child loss. I saw a need to be filled and I quickly learned that siblings are called “forgotten grievers.” This has become my life’s mission. I knew this could not take the pain of losing my son away but it has helped me in my journey. I get to companion people in their grief and show them that they don’t have to do this alone and there are professionals who can help. I want people to know that even though the death of your child feels like something you can’t survive, you can do this, with help.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Carrie Schmitt and I am the founder of Love Like Jackson. I came across this line of work in a very painful way. My own 7 year old son died just 6 days after being diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. I wish no one needed the services that I have to offer, but sadly, they do. Siblings are called forgotten griever’s and I want to help change that.
Love Like Jackson provides resources to families who have experienced child loss. We do so by funding art, music and play therapy as well as trauma-informed yoga for children whose sibling has died. We also recently added funding therapy for parents as well.
We provide “grief bags’ which include therapist recommended books for both children and parents. art supplies and resources.
We also place buddy benches at local playgrounds. We do this because my son, Jackson’s school placed a buddy bench at their school playground because “Jackson was always such a good friend to everyone.”
We love doing this because this is a way that children can let someone know that they have no one to play with, whether that be a teacher or a child.
The problem we solve is taking away the guesswork of finding specific therapists who work with grieving children.
We are also proud to fund therapy for children. As we all know, therapy can get expensive and we want to eliminate this barrier for families because we feel so strongly that children should receive therapy after the death of their sibling.
I want people to know that, although you may not be ready for therapy immediately after the death of your child, the services are there when you are ready.
Talking about child death is really hard. It is a subject that most people prefer to ignore because it is every parent’s worst nightmare. My therapist says that if you replace the word, “hard” with “important” it changes how you approach this. What I do is hard, but it’s important.
I am most proud of the fact that I created something that did not exist before. There are 5 organizations in the state of Missouri that provide services to grieving children. We are the only agency in the area that funds individual therapy for grieving children.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience is basically my middle name. My son died 6 days after I gave birth, as a surrogate. He died just 6 days after entering the hospital. So, in the span of 12 days, I gave birth to someone else’s child and lost my own. Just 3 months after my son’s death. I woke up with conviction, knowing I needed to educate my community about the under-funding of childhood cancer. I decided to have a St. Baldrick’s event to raise money for childhood cancer research. 8 months after the death of my son, we hosted our 1st Team Jackson St. Baldrick’s event and had 73 people shave their head and we raised $79,000 for childhood cancer. 3 weeks later, Covid shut the world down.
In 2021, we held a virtual event and raised another $31,000.
I have learned how to turn my pain in to purpose. It hasn’t been fun or easy but I have never given up because I have chosen to go on living and fighting for my surviving child.
His resilience has been beautiful to witness. He has gone from a very anxious child, worried that something was going to happen to me, to a thriving 1st grader, doing great in school and excelling as a ninja warrior.
My resilience has come from a lot of pain but I am proud of all of the accomplishments that have been made, in my son’s name.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

This is a painfully difficult question to answer. If I could go back and change the path of my son’s life, I absolutely would. I wish with my whole heart that he was still here.
The work I am doing is incredibly meaningful. I have met some amazing people who are changing the world. These are deep and profound relationships that have impacted me greatly.
I have seen the beautiful side of humanity. I have been on the receiving end of so much generosity, thoughtfulness and kindness.
I have been altered. I will never be the same. And I am so proud of the work that has been done.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lovelikejackson.org
• Instagram: lovelikejackson1219
• Facebook: Love Like Jackson