Julie's Mission stitches up the pain of loss

Posted: February 8, 2012 - 12:17am

Nearly everyone in the house had a personal and painful reason to be sewing, cutting, ironing and crocheting, but the sounds were anything but sad.

“We call it our senior sweatshop,” said Julie's Mission founder Dee Brantley. Throughout her house were tables filled with fabric, sewing machines, finished projects, partly completed items and all the tools needed to add finishing touches of love. The women at work were chatting, comparing notes on project steps and enjoying each other's company.

Minus the “sweatshop” aspect, it's what the group hopes will happen Feb. 28 when they host a fundraiser in the Pavilion sponsored by Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q.

“They'll give us enough food to feed 600 people,” Brantley said. “Barbecued ribs, chicken, their world-famous biscuits, coleslaw, beans and homemade cookies made by one of our members.”

There will also be tea, soda and a big salad so no one will go away hungry, Brantley said. The nonprofit 501(c)(3) holds the fundraisers to purchase materials and pay shipping charges to get their projects to neo-natal clinics.

At the club's meetings, the members of Julie's Mission fulfill their goal of providing remembrance items for families who will experience a troubled pregnancy and possibly the loss of a baby.

For women like Brantley, the mission is very personal. The group is named after her granddaughter.

Julie's mission

Julie, her son and daughter-in-law's first child, lay in the neo-natal intensive care unit of the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in Orlando for three weeks before she died.

"Julie had an emergency christening the day after she was born," Brantley said. "She was a full-term baby and had the best care, yet she was with us for a day. She was born, died, resuscitated and put on life support. She had only one lung and that was the tip of the iceberg. It totally changed my life. I kept thinking why do people have to go through this? Why the suffering? How can you help them?"

Brantley wanted to bring some peace and comfort to the families and let them know they are not alone in their pain. She came up with the Memory Envelope the day Julie's parents took her off life support, and a butterfly is added to each item the group makes.

“After her passing, several of us were in the ward waiting room looking out the window and a butterfly fluttered by. We all believed it was Julie saying ‘I am happy. I am free. We will meet again,’” Brantley said.

Made with love for anyone

The items Julie's Mission creates are made out of everything from the softest, plushest yarns to donated wedding dresses. Some parts are hand-stitched and others are run through sewing machines. They are all made with love and compassion.

Joyce Steffan came to the group some time ago. She couldn't knit or crochet.

"What can you do," she was asked.

"I can make counted cross-stitch blankets."

Steffan makes about four or five each year and donates them to the cause.

"I think it's wonderful if a family has something beautiful for their child, especially if they lose it," she said.

The Memory Envelope is a little less than 12 inches square. Soft and quilted, it can hold things by which the parents can remember their baby such as cards, baby caps and locks of hair.

Linda Craig, coordinator of the group's ideas, has had a hand in a number of baby garments made from wedding gowns. The women make memory layettes that include the gowns, hat and blanket. Some made from the train are quite elaborate.

"It's recycled love," Craig said. "There's already so much love in the wedding part. And for a family that has very little, this can be a special way to say goodbye."

Craig knows the challenges of a difficult birth.

"I had a son who was in the incubator but he made it and came home a week later," she said. "He was so small."

Carol Beck from Eagle's Pointe Plantation saw information about the group and arranged to add her support. She was crocheting a soft, delicate blanket.

"I was a twin and my twin didn't make it. My daughter had a miscarriage and it was already on my mind," she said. "The most important reason, though, was she then had a 3 1/2 pound preemie, my grandson.

"He was the motivation for my learning to make preemie caps in the first place. I remember seeing him in the incubator," Beck said. "He was in there for five weeks before they let him come home. He was only five pounds. Now he's 11 years old."

It's all free

Everything made by the members of Julie's Mission is free to the families cared for by various clinics, including the Winnie Palmer staff with whom Brantley keeps in touch.

"We are always looking for volunteers and help because unfortunately our work will never be done," Brantley said. "Until there is better prenatal care, we're going to have to deal with it.

"No one goes to the hospital expecting not to bring the baby home. The hospital takes care of all the things medically, but we can take care of the personal caring touch."


What: Fundraiser

When: 4:30-6 p.m. and 6:30-8 p.m. Feb. 28

Where: In the Pavilion

Cost: $15 for dinner

Details: Call 379-1191 or email deebrantley@hargray.com

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