Meet Kelley Kuhn | Chief Operating Officer and CO-Founder of Walk With Me Nonprofit Organization

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelley Kuhn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelley, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
Until fairly recently, the loss of an infant was not something that was openly discussed in our community, be it a miscarriage or a late term loss. Because of this, people are often unaware of how many of their neighbors have been affected in some way by the death of an infant and how extensive this kind of loss touches every part of their lives.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Walk With Me started as a passion project for my family several years after my little sister and her husband lost their first born son, Logan, 54 minutes after he as born to a terminal genetic disorder. Learning to navigate life after a loss of this magnitude was incredibly challenging to say the least, and we quickly discovered that support systems for families like our own just didn’t exist. What began as a mission to provide families with counseling funds, quickly became a full fledged nonprofit organization. Now, Walk With Me has been in existence for over 8 years and provides late term infant loss families in our community with a full comprehensive care program following the passing of their child. Services include funds to help families cover funeral and counseling costs, the offering of monthly community support groups and memorial events, and the gifting of memorial items and resource packages to the families we serve. WWM also works closely with local are hospitals donating hundreds of keepsake creation kits every year as well as providing their teams with education on how to navigate infant loss in their prospective departments.

I think one of the things that I am most proud of is the team that runs Walk With Me. We are not professional counselors, doctors, social workers or individuals with any official training when it comes to operating a nonprofit organization. We are just a team of people who saw a huge need in our community and decided to do something about it. Nothing about this journey was not challenging, as we were building or organization while we were operating it, but we were always blessed with an army of additional volunteers and supporters that made what felt like an impossible undertaking, a community building and life changing experience.

As we continue to grow and serve we learn just how far the reach infant loss has in our community. Everyone we meet has been touch or affected in one way or another and we have quickly become a platform for people to share their stories of loss, hope, and healing. So many people feel connected to our mission and offer to contribute their own amazing skill sets to help advance our cause which has been a godsend. There is always someone willing to fill the gaps we are missing, always someone to learn from. Being given the honor to listen to everyone’s loss experiences has blessed our team with so much insight into the grieving process, which I believe only makes us more equipped everyday to continue to serve this community.

We also continue to learn that you cannot be everything to everyone. You cannot do everything for everyone and expect to do it all well. We have had to choose a handful of needs to fill and let the rest go which is hard. We have had to learn to say no even when it’s heartbreaking. We have learned how important boundaries and both professionally and personally and continue to work to honor both for the sake of our team and the people we serve each day.

Being a part of Walk With Me means you have to exist in this tension of wishing this organization was never needed in the first place but being so incredibly grateful that it does. You have to be able to sit in people’s darkest moment with them and hold onto the hope that you will get to see them through to the other side where joy is found again. It means you unknowingly get to help build the legacy for so many beautiful babies gone to soon. Our team fills so blessed and honored to get to be apart of something so profound and so amazing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hmmm… a week long trip visiting me would actually probably mean staying out of the city for the most part. We would trek down to some secret river spots to enjoy the sun and the calming sound of the water. We’d probably jump on several hiking trails, sweating our way up for the amazing gratification of getting to look down at the world. We’d also probably jump on a raft and float a day away.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a big shout out to the families of WWM’s infant loss community that make the choice to choose hope everyday, in the midst of one of life’s most devastating losses. I’m in awe of your amazing resilience, you inspire me every day. As well as the army of support people, volunteers, and donors that make our mission possible.

Website: www.walkwithme-nonprofit.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walkwithmedotorg/

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@walkwithme5493

Image Credits
Chesney Louie Midcap