12 Years and Beyond: What’s Ahead for OAW

Society often expects nonprofits to operate on shoestring budgets—stretching every dollar to its limit, doing more with less, and often sacrificing sustainability for the sake of optics. But truly serving families—and serving them well—requires far more than goodwill. It requires employees. It requires infrastructure. It requires time, space, training, and care. And yes, it requires…

We’ve provided over 2,200 therapeutic photo sessions across six states, and our work now includes grief recovery support, mental health and wellness resources, community events, and photographer mentorship. Every single service is still offered completely free of charge, because we never want cost to be a barrier to care.

After attending the NACG Symposium in Kansas City earlier this month, OAW launches Legacy of Hope, it’s Children’s Grief Program.

There are hundreds of people who followed Ellie’s journey from afar and found inspiration in her story. I had the honor of witnessing her life up close for nearly a decade. Her impact runs deeper than inspiration—she and her family helped shape how we support every family we serve.

Learn more about what exactly BPD means for your baby and the treatment routes your baby’s physicians may recommend over the next several weeks. 

We got Josie when she was 9 months old, placed with us through medical foster care. We knew she had Marshall-Smith Syndrome, but we had no idea the journey the Lord was about to take us on.

Jasper was whisked away to the NICU, and we began navigating life with a medically fragile baby. He was diagnosed with BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia), which meant we had to stay home much more to limit exposure.

Each year, On Angels’ Wings presents the VIP (Very Important Photographer) Award to a select group of volunteer photographers who exemplify our mission and values through extraordinary dedication.

I want to talk about something else equally entangled with our mental health: grief. And more specifically, how we respond — or often, how we don’t quite know how to respond — when someone we care about is deep in the throes of it.

On Angels’ Wings spent a meaningful and productive week in St. Louis at the nationally recognized ShutterFest Photography Conference. The experience deepened connections with photographers and families alike, and created new opportunities to expand OAW’s compassionate mission.