Our Story
In November 2025, our daughter Brooke was born suddenly and unexpectedly at just 25 weeks and 6 days, weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces. In an instant, my husband and I’s world was turned upside down. Nothing can prepare a family for the shock and uncertainty of a micro-preemie birth.
A few days after Brooke was born, my cousin — a NICU mom herself — gifted me a backpack with thoughtfully chosen essentials and small comforts for my NICU journey, the kind only someone who has walked the road would know to include. The backpack held everything I needed: a phone charger for long days, floss for late nights, and even a DoorDash gift card for the times I forgot to eat. The nurses recognized me by my backpack as it became my constant companion and my armor going back and forth to the NICU every day—often multiple times a day—to visit my miracle baby Brooke. It was more than a bag—it was care, understanding, and support during one of the hardest seasons of my life.
Because that backpack meant so much to me, I began putting together backpacks for other moms I met in the NICU. Through this simple act of kindness, I formed deep friendships with moms walking the same difficult journey. We encouraged one another, prayed for our babies, and stood side by side as we fought the journey with our babies.
After 107 days in the NICU filled with challenges, setbacks, and victories, Brooke was finally strong enough to come home. We were overjoyed and so grateful to be home with Brooke; however, my heart continued to ache for the babies and families we left back in the NICU. I could not get them off my mind. I missed the connection and purpose I found in gifting other NICU families backpacks, so I founded Brooke’s Backpacks Inc.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost oats of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me., and your right hand shall hold me.” - Psalm 139: 7-10
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” - 2 Corinthians 4: 16-17
The night Brooke was born
Brooke at 27 weeks and 4 days old; 12 days after birth
My backpack in the NICU
Me with my backpack in the NICU visiting Brooke at 32 weeks old; 6 weeks and 1 day after birth
Brooke’s Backpacks, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families of premature babies in the NICU. We partner directly with NICUs, delivering backpacks each month to our hospital partners, so families receive a backpack immediately upon their baby’s admission to the NICU. Our backpacks are gifted to families of babies born at 30 weeks’ gestation or earlier, as these infants often experience longer NICU stays. Each backpack is filled with practical essentials, encouragement, and comforting items designed to meet the real needs of parents during long days and late nights at the hospital—just as my backpack once did for me. Our hope is that every backpack serves as both a resource and a reminder to NICU families: you are not alone.
With every backpack we deliver, our team is committed to praying for the baby and family who receives it. We have seen and experienced firsthand how prayer and community carried our family through Brooke's NICU journey, and we hope to offer that same support to the NICU families we serve. Brooke’s story is a testament to the power, kindness, and faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We believe God sees every premature baby, grieves with us through the suffering, and is continually at work to bring hope, healing, and restoration. Because every baby and family has a unique NICU journey, we faithfully pray that God would meet them each day with His presence, fill them with His peace, rain down His blessings upon them, pour out His power and strength, and cover them in His unfailing love. At Brooke’s Backpacks, we are honored to stand with NICU babies and to support the families, reminding them that they are never alone.
Who We Are
