A local ministry is joining families together to navigate loss. Red Bird Ministries is a catholic support group serving families who’ve experienced the loss of a child. They are currently working on a project to bring counseling to those who might not be ready for group sessions or retreats. 

I first experienced a loss in 2005,” says Kelly Breaux, the President of Red Bird Ministries, “I was very isolated, I felt like I was in desolation. We’ve done and Deacon Barney has been so intricate in this process. We want to help the community, the parents who have lost children to come out of isolation and desolation and back into the community.”

The ministry currently offers monthly support groups for parents and one-day retreats. “Men and women grieve differently and many times through that grief process they grow apart. We strive to help them to grieve in their own way but to love each other through that grief,” says Devon Barney LeJune the Ministries Chaplain. 

The ministry is currently working on creating a program specifically for couples who have lost children. They say it will be the first of its kind. “It will be video-based mentor couples. You will share a workbook where you can journey through your loss one on one. So if a couple has experienced a miscarriage they would be with a couple who is also experienced a miscarriage, or an adult like Deacon Barney. His daughter was 27. We are trying to partner losses together,” says Breaux. 

The organization is working to raise $20,000 for the video portion of their new program.