About Us
“Grief doesn’t have a finish line. You can’t just plan to make it to a certain point and then stop grieving. You’ll always miss your baby but you can experience peace and have better days that eventually become good days. You then realize you are going to be okay and you will survive this.”
OUR MISSION
Missing GRACE Foundation’s mission is to provide support, resources and education for families and professional care providers when there is loss of a baby, infertility or adoption challenges. We offer hope and healing opportunities to G.R.A.C.E. – Grieve, Restore, Arise, Commemorate and Educate.
OUR GOALS
To be healing hands of GRACE that:
Love and support families in their grief journey so they can heal and have hope for a brighter day.
Affirm each baby’s life matters no matter how brief a time they were here.
Create a safe place for the bereaved to experience community with others who understand.
Advocate for mothers to receive care that will improve good outcomes.
Build awareness about ways to prevent miscarriage and stillbirth.
Help educate hospital staff in the best practices of care for patients who experience a perinatal loss.
Guide mothers in a holistic health approach to healing their bodies from trauma and grief.
OUR HISTORY
2002
Candy and Stephen McVicar founded Missing GRACE after the umbilical cord related stillbirth of their firstborn daughter Grace.
Online support groups and support group meetings were made available as were GRACE Care Baskets, given to comfort and help newly grieving parents in the hospital at the time their baby died.
Candy served on-call at hospitals as a patient advocate and grief support person for parents delivering a miscarried, stillborn or neonate baby with a poor diagnosis. She offered birth support, professional photography, live video filming, memorial service planning and home visits with follow-up care. Stephen compiled the photos and videos and created a Memorial DVD for the parents to have as a treasured keepsake.
These specialty services grew through a partnership with a MN hospital, which assisted in the recruitment and training process for what became the Missing GRACE Crisis Care Team; a team of 24 volunteers who served throughout Minnesota and the Midwest five-state region.
As news spread, more hospitals requested the services in other states. Bereaved parent volunteers were trained to begin providing Missing GRACE Crisis Care Team services in their local hospitals and to facilitate GRACE Support Groups in their communities. Services have been offered in Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky and Missouri.
Missing GRACE hosted seven national conferences annually in MN for bereaved, infertile and adoptive families. The conferences also had a medical track and provided CEUs/CMEs for Care Professionals.
2003
Through hard work, Candy, together with volunteers (also parents to stillborn babies) and collaborative bipartisan efforts, helped propose a new bill at the capital in St. Paul, MN, that would ensure parents of a stillborn would receive their baby’s birth certificate. The bill received incredible legislative support and unanimous votes in both the House and Senate Health Committees as well as on the floor of both House and Senate and was signed into law and enacted August 1, 2005.
2005
The first Kaila & Grace's Hope & Hearts Run was held at Lake Harriet; later becoming known as the MN Hope & Hearts Run/Walk. It not only served the purpose of remembering the beautiful babies and children lost too soon but also helped raise awareness about pregnancy loss and stillbirth prevention. This event was held for 18 years straight.
Hope & Hearts events were also held in Texas in memory of Payton, in New Mexico in memory of Blakey, and in Kentucky in memory of Gracie.
2006
The organization became Missing GRACE Foundation (MGF) at the time of receiving status as a 501 (c) (3) Nonprofit.
2010
“They Were Stillborn – Personal Stories About Stillbirth,” a beautiful collection of essays compiled and edited by Janel Atlas was published which included a contribution by Candy.
2011
The Center for GRACE opened its doors to the public in Rogers, MN to provide a designated space for bereaved, infertile and adoptive families to gather as well as a distribution center for Care Baskets. The Center also had a specialty gift shop, meeting rooms, library, counseling center, castle play area for children and served as the MGF headquarters office.
2020
Candy co-authored a book with Dr. Gary Chapman titled, "The 5 Love Languages® for Grieving Parents: Holding on to Love After You've Lost a Baby."
2022
Missing GRACE opened an office in South Carolina. Pastoral care services began to be offered by Pastor Stephen McVicar for grieving dads and couples on Zoom and in-person.
2023
GRACE Care Packages (formerly called the GRACE Care Baskets and Totes) were updated to include all new bereavement literature in the GRACE Resource Folder, and the additions of the "Tailor-Made" and "Solace" Packages.
The Center for GRACE was closed and the headquarter office was moved to a new location in Rogers, MN and GRACE Care Package distribution center relocated to Mora, MN.
2025
Missing GRACE Foundation (MGF) opened a new headquarters office and Resource Center in Saint Michael, MN. The MGF Resource Center has a "Gathering Place" meeting room for support groups, classes, volunteer meetings and community events, the "Assembly Room" for preparing, assembling, packaging and shipping GRACE Care Packages, a complimentary refreshment area and a lending library.
2026
MGF launches it’s new website with all new features and services, including: an online store for the public, a Care Professionals’ member site with online ordering for bereavement materials and resources, online registration and booking for professional preconception counseling, pastoral counseling, health and wellness coaching, classes and support groups, a memorial page for Our Babies in Heaven, and many pathways to connect with other pregnancy and infant loss parents on a similar journey.