http://www.wellmamaoregon.com | 1

“My heart became so full of love for those precious souls.”

In this Issue

Thank You, Donors! 2

WellMama’s New Community Voices & Resource Guide 3

Space for Rent at WellMama

3

Community Client 4

Community Volunteer 4

Donor Spotlight 4

Special Events Calendar 5

Have you ever seen a piece of art and suddenly been struck by some kind of invisible power requiring you to be still and observe? Last spring, this is exactly what happened to me. It’s still fresh in my mind because it led to a new understanding for me about who I am.

In silence, I stood still and pondered, “What is it about your call that has made me stop and listen? What are you trying to tell me?”

The painting was of a mature weeping willow. She was carrying a heavy load. Her boughs hung to the ground, every one dot-ted with leaves shaped like tears. Suddenly, my mind turned each of those leaves into someone who was crying. I saw mamas and

babies weeping, feeling lost and alone. My heart became so full of love for those precious souls. I felt frustrated, though, because I did not know who they were or how to help.

Not more than a couple of months later, my life changed in a most unexpected way. Without having

Artistic Inspiration

WellMamaBy Andria Peterson, WellMama Executive Director

Wrapped in the arms of community

2 | http://www.wellmamaoregon.com

$100 trains two volunteers to lead support groupsVisit our website at

http://www.wellmamaoregon.com and click on the “donate now” button.

applied for the job, I was invited to become the new WellMama Executive Director. Previous to the offer, I had succeeded in writing WellMama’s first couple of funded grants, and my past career and edu-cational accomplishments included serving as a birth and postpartum doula and earning a degree in non-profit management.

This new career was a match per-fectly aligned with my heartfelt weeping willow experience. To my great joy, as of July 16, 2012, I had begun the journey of searching for those dear ones. As we find each tearful new mama in Lane County, WellMama prepares a way for her

to find emotional wellness in her struggle through depression and anxiety related to her pregnancy, childbirth, baby loss, and/or miscar-riage. This is why WellMama exists.

We thank you for your dear contri-butions of your time and money to WellMama. At the beginning of this New Year, please consider helping to lift another branch from that weep-ing willow by, perhaps, stretching just a bit more. You wouldn’t believe the profound impact you could have on a weeping mama who is real and in our midst.

Thank you for magnifying our work through your support.

Gold Coin Club: $5,000+Toni Seidl

Silver Coin Club: $3,000 - $4,999

MamaLove: $1,000 - $2,999*Kay YanitKimberlysue Morton

BabyLove: $500 - $999Tina & Mark Schnapper

Kiss Kiss: $300 - $499Brooke KyleFranz St George Jessica FriedmanGary LeClair

Warm Blanket: Up to $299*Kallen Korin*Raelynn Radich*Donna Niegel*Syndee Lytle*Mary Jo Sanders*Eizabeth Boram*Christine Frederick*Marie Michel*Andria Peterson*Margaret Perkins*Brianna RobbinsSandi LeshCindy RobertsCharlotte PetersonElisabeth LaneHeidi BehrendsIsabella PrybilKathleen JacksonKimberly MortonNatalie Lillie

Ruth JorayAllen HeamanLeslie KyleLaura Stevenson

*Indicates a donor who pledges a recurring gift, which is immensely helpful to supporting WellMama’s services.

Local Business &Organization GiftsThe Glass FuserBliss Handmade BoutiqueKiwanis Club of EugeneDebra Ingebretsen ImagesGrassroots Gynecology

Corporate & Foundation GiftsOregon Community FoundationPacificSource

Thank You, Donors!

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WellMama website visitors can learn about perinatal mood

disorders while reading families’ personal stories.

The space for rent includes a shared

lobby, pictured here.

On December 1, WellMama launched a new section of its web-site. The Community Voices and Resource Guide combines informa-tional articles with personal blog posts written by women and men in our community.

In the guide, website visitors can read about other women who experi-enced postpartum depression, birth trauma, miscarriage, and more. The women and men who chose to write blog posts sharing their experiences send powerful messages to others: You are not alone. You will get bet-ter. WellMama also hopes the blog posts will help erase stigma about perinatal mood disorders.

“WellMama’s online Community Voices and Resource Guide’s influ-ence has already proven to be one of healing,” says Andria Peterson, WellMama Executive Director who

also shared her own experience of prenatal anxiety. “Its authors have expressed the power of sharing their stories through written accounts of their darkest days liberating and humbling, humbling because they know that it is now through them that others may find hope.”

The informational articles pro-vide website visitors with a wealth of information. Topics included are health and well-ness, prenatal and postpartum depression recovery stories, miscarriage and baby loss, birth trauma, post-adoption depres-sion, postpartum psychosis, and men’s postpartum issues.

Volunteer Mandy Lindgren, who began volunteering for WellMama in August 2012, developed the Community Voices and Resource

Guide, worked with those who sub-mitted blog posts, and wrote many of the informational articles.

View the guide online at http://www.wellmamaoregon.com.

WellMama has a beautiful office available for rent. We are invit-ing counselors with experience and a specific interest in working with mamas with perinatal mood

disorders to contact us. At this time, we are most interested in counsel-ors who accept OHP. The rent pay-ment is negotiable, and you can expect a steady flow of referrals

from WellMama. The space rental also includes a shared lobby. Please contact Executive Director Andria Peterson at andria.wellmama@gmail.com or 541-554-0495.

WellMama’s NEWCommunity Voices & Resource Guide

Space for Rent at WellMama

4 | http://www.wellmamaoregon.com

Mandy and her son, Vryce, on top of Spencer’s Butte, their favorite place in

Eugene

Want to Become a Volunteer? Learn how at http://www.

wellmamaoregon.com/wellmama-volunteer

Help us help women like Cassie.

Just $25 funds our warm line phone support for one month. Visit our website at

http://www.wellmamaoregon.com and click on the “donate now”

button.Cassie and her family

Mandy Lindgren started volunteer-ing for WellMama in August 2012 as an executive assistant. She rede-signed portions of the website and created the WellMama Community Voices and Resource Guide, an expanded section on our website that incorporates informational articles with women’s personal sto-ries of recovering from perinatal mood disorders.

“I loved creating the resource guide,” Mandy says. “I got to speak with women in our community

about their trials and tri-umphs of being a mother. I love hearing their experi-ences and bearing witness to their strength, fortitude, and enduring love.”

Mandy is a strong advocate for women’s health ser-vices, and volunteering for WellMama is her way of being thankful.

“Without the mentor-ship of local community leaders, I

wouldn’t have the skills I do,” Mandy explains. “I’ve had wonderful opportuni-ties to learn and develop professional skills. By volunteering, I get to say more than thank you. I get to live being thankful and

share my knowledge and skills with others.”

Her favorite moment of every day is snuggling with her son and reading stories before bedtime.

Cassie Smith, originally from Hillsboro, heard about WellMama through a friend. Like many other clients, her first interac-

tion with WellMama occurred through Facebook. She first joined WellMama’s Facebook page for online support and resources and

later decided to attend a support group.

“I like that it [the sup-port group] gets me out of the house and around other moms,” Cassie says. WellMama support groups offer clients a sense of com-munity and camaraderie. “It’s a good thing, know-ing we’re not alone in our struggles. Someone may be struggling with something

that I’m not, and we can all help each other.”

Cassie likes being outside and being as close to nature as possible. She enjoys walking and bike riding.

Community Volunteer: Mandy Lindgren

Community Client: Cassie Smith

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Join Our Monthly Support Groups

Eugene Day Group: First and third Tuesdays of each monthEugene Evening Group: First and third Thursdays of each monthSpringfield Evening Group: Second and fourth Wednesdays of each monthWellMama Self Care Saturdays: First Saturday of every month, beginning February 2013

Learn more at http://www.wellmamaoregon.com/postpartum-depression-support-groups/

Toni Seidel is WellMama’s only Gold Coin Club Donor. Toni’s profession-al background has made her acutely aware of the importance of maternal health on women and their families. Currently a psychotherapist, she has also been a labor and delivery nurse, a pediatric nurse, and a child abuse program officer at a children’s hos-pital.

“I know the impact of pregnancy, delivery, and having a new baby and

how vulnerable we all are at those times, some more than others,” Toni says. “Making all kinds of moms feel successful, happy, and satisfied with their parenting is so inseparable from a child’s well-being.”

Thanks to Toni’s support, WellMa-ma is able to offer six support group options, warm line support, and training to healthcare professionals. To those who are considering do-nating to WellMama to help expand

those services, Toni says, “Go for it! The fewer barriers we put in people’s way, the better.”

She adds, “Well-Mama does a good job of edu-

cating professionals, which is para-mount to making sure that they are attuned to what postpartum depres-sion looks like.” Toni would like to see others donate to WellMama so that the organization can explore additional professional training programs and produce public ser-vice announcements about perina-tal mood disorders.Toni’s philanthropy includes more than just WellMama. She is part of an organization called Impact 100, a giving circle established to pool members’ resources and make last-ing financial contributions to orga-nizations. This group of 267 women gives out two $100,000 grants to nonprofits in their community each year in addition to covering operat-ing expenses for several others.

FebruarySaturday, February 2: Board Retreat

MarchSaturday, March 16: New Volunteer Training

AprilWednesday, April 17: Volunteer Appreciation Party

MayThursday, May 2: Facebook Family Party – Salsa Dancing Demo & Lessons

WellMama Special Events Calendar

Donor Spotlight: Toni Seidl