Скачать или смотреть Made in Our Hometown: Dresses for Babies Who

It's a subject that isn't talked about too often because it's so painful, having a child that is stillborn or doesn't survive delivery. But giving families something to take home either as a keepsake or to wear for memory pictures, is just one step in the grieving process that this new provides.

White lace, intricate bead work and the hum of a sewing machine mark a memorable milestone for many women: the start of life, the hope of a wedding. But after that special day, many of those special dresses hang in closets, untouched for years. Until one idea to link that special time to a tragedy that no parent should have to face. "We are able to help wrap these cherished babies in special gowns and really give these parents something to hold on to once the child is gone," says Jenny Clifton, the organizer of Project Angel Gowns of the South.

Clifton is a labor and delivery nurse at Erlanger and sees the suffering of moms and dads of babies that won't make it home. "A lot of families that have babies who are stillborn, a lot of families who are born too premature to live and survive. It's never easy but we want to be there to help them with the process."

Project Angel Gowns of the South gathers donated wedding dresses and hands them out to volunteer seamstresses who can make up to 15 special gowns from one full-sized wedding dress. After the satin skirt is cut into smaller pieces, and the beaded embellishments separated, more than 50 dresses can be decorated with the sequins and beads.

And while they sew, designing as they go, each seamstress can't help but think about the family that will get these tiny garments. "It's very special to be able to be able to do this for someone," says volunteer seamstress Sharon Gallaher. "Even though you don't know who it's going to, but you know they are suffering."

"I start crying when I make the dresses thinking of who will be using these, thinking of the impact it will make on the family."

The response is so profound, the group is picking up more dresses every week and looking for more hands to help. And now 45 angel gowns that started out on someone's special day are available at Erlanger, waiting to give a grieving family a small moment of solace. "Just to be able to give them something," says seamstress Tatum Brinkman "a piece of beauty in the middle of their circumstances is very rewarding and very humbling at the same time."

To volunteer as a seamstress or find out how to donate a dress, click here to visit the Project's Facebook page.

By: Latricia Thomas