Finding Hope In Who You Really Are With Candy McVicar Mom & Executive Director

Candy McVicar is an author, inspirational speaker, and devoted advocate for families who are grieving a baby or child.  Candy and her husband Stephen have been married and serving in ministry together for twenty-one years. After the stillbirth of their daughter Grace in 2001, they founded Missing GRACE Foundation which provides support, resources and a place of healing for families grieving a pregnancy or infant loss, infertility or adoption challenges. Candy serves as the Executive Director. Candy has extensive experience working with bereaved families and within healthcare systems. Candy facilitates grief support groups for parents and grandparents and provides facilitator training courses. Candy volunteered in hospital birthing rooms and NICUs, supporting hundreds of perinatal loss families for ten years. She provided them with birth support, professional photography and videography and assisted with their funeral services.In 2003, Candy spearheaded legislation to help parents of a stillborn in Minnesota to receive their baby’s birth certificate. The bill was signed into law and enacted August 1, 2005, bringing rightful recognition and dignity to stillborn babies.Candy organized and hosted annual GRACE conferences where she brought in speakers from around the nation to provide care professionals with CME and CEU classes along with a wide array of resources, support and education for families who have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss, infertility or adoption challenges. Candy has lectured at hospitals, clinics, universities, churches and conferences, capturing the hearts of many with her engaging and personable style. She is a grief and trauma specialist on a mission to help couples and families grow closer together, heal and find hope.Candy is a lover of homemade fresh squeezed juice, hiking along the coast, photographing the light dancing on the water, snuggles with her favorite man and two amazing daughters and time with all the littles in her life: her two happy dogs (Tico and Sozo), and talkative cat (LuLu).https://candymcvicar.comhttps://twitter.com/CandyMcvicarhttps://www.instagram.com/candymcvicar/https://www.facebook.com/CandyMcVicarOfficial/https://www.linkedin.com/in/candy-mcvicar-00602314/Grace McVicar was stillborn on December 20, 2001. She was the first-born child of Candy and Stephen McVicar. It was through their grieving and feelings of missing their daughter and missing the chance to hold, love and raise their baby Grace, that the inspiration for the name “Missing GRACE” was realized.Additionally, the name is an acronym with a meaning which is central to the heart of the mission of Missing GRACE Foundation. It stands for:Grieve, Restore, Arise, Commemorate and Educate.Missing GRACE Foundation provides help to: Grieve in healthy ways by giving comfort, support and resources while validating the significance of the baby’s life and the right to grieve for the childRestore holistically in a person’s emotional, relational, physical and spiritual health, which can each be affected through the trauma of the grief experienceArise from the ashes – the dark place of deep sorrow and discover there is hope for a brighter dayCommemorate their loved onesEducate others through sharing their own stories of loss and by providing education for families and professionals that will help bring babies into the world safelyhttp://www.missinggrace.org/https://www.facebook.com/MGFCenterforGRACE/https://twitter.com/missinggraceorg Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.