Every year, hundreds of families in Wake County experience the devastating, quiet heartbreak of pregnancy and infant loss. For many parents, especially those who experience an early-term miscarriage or stillbirth, there is no physical grave. There is no headstone to visit, no dedicated space to lay a flower, and nowhere to go when the weight of that grief feels too heavy to carry alone.

When you lose a baby before they are big enough for a traditional burial, you often leave the hospital with empty arms and a profound sense of hopelessness. Love doesn't disappear just because a life was cut short, but without a physical anchor, that love and grief have nowhere to go.

We experienced this firsthand. Before moving to North Carolina, our family found immense comfort in a local cemetery back in Idaho that hosted a Christmas Box Angel of Hope statue. For us, that monument was a stand-in for our miscarried daughter Astrid's resting place, along with our other two babies that were so little we couldn't even name them. It was a beautiful, sacred sanctuary where we could sit, remember them, and feel connected to them.

Now that we call Wake County home, we feel there is a missing piece in our community. We want to bring that same profound source of healing and comfort here to the Triangle area.

What is the Angel of Hope?

Inspired by the monument in Richard Paul Evans' best-selling novel The Christmas Box, the Angel of Hope is a beautiful bronze statue of an angel with its wings raised and hands outstretched. On one of its wings, the word "HOPE" is quietly engraved.

Across the country, these statues serve as public, regional memorial gardens. They are not tied to any single funeral home, religion, or specific cemetery plot: they belong entirely to the community. They are a permanent place where any parent, grandparent, or sibling who has lost a child of any age can come to find peace, reflection, and solidarity. On December 6th at 7:00 PM every year, communities with an Angel gather for a worldwide candlelight Vigil.

Why Your Signature Matters

Bringing an Angel of Hope to Wake County is a community-driven mission. To order the sculpture and build its stone foundation, we need to raise approximately $24,000 and secure a peaceful, publicly accessible piece of donated land, such as a section of a local municipal park garden or cemetery.

This petition is our first, most crucial step.

We are not using these signatures to demand action from local government; instead, we are building proof of love and necessity. When we pitch this project to local non-profit partners, hospital bereavement teams, and cemetery directors to secure land, this petition will be our voice. It will prove to them that this monument is deeply needed, that it will be fiercely loved, and that the community will stand behind it.

Please sign your name to show your support. Whether you are a grieving parent carrying a quiet loss, a loved one who has watched a family member hurt, or simply a neighbor who believes that no one should have to navigate the darkness of infant loss without a place of hope.

We need you.

Let’s build a sanctuary for our babies, right here in Wake County.