Life & Work with Carrie Schmitt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Schmitt.

Hi Carrie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story is tragic and unbelievable. I was a surrogate in 2019 and it was one of my proudest accomplishments. When I was 7 months pregnant, my 7-year-old son started to experience leg pain, which we thought was growing pains. We went to the doctor, specialists and the emergency room and the doctors were not finding anything. On July 8, 2019, I delivered a healthy baby boy for a family in Chicago. Just 6 days later, my son went into the hospital and in the span of 6 days, we found out that he had a 9″ tumor in his femur, a flap on his mitral valve that resulted in 6 strokes. On July 20, 2019, just 12 days after I gave birth to someone else’s child, my son died. It was very unexpected and it shattered my family.

My other son, Ivan, who was 3.5 at the time of his brother’s death was sad, scared and confused. Between the loss of his brother and his parents grieving deeply, he experienced profound anxiety. As his mother, I had no idea how to help him. Thankfully, we were connected with a local organization who introduced us to a play therapist. She helped our son process the feelings associated with losing his big brother at such a young age. She also helped me determine what was “normal” with his behavior and questions because none of it felt right. She equipped me with tools to be able to help him understand the permanence of death.

Siblings are often called “forgotten grievers” because when a child dies, the focus tends to be on the parents.

The help we received from his play therapist showed me how important it was for us, in our journey. Love Like Jackson was born from me trying to do anything I could to ease my own pain and potentially helping other families whose lives were shattered by the loss of their children.

Love Like Jackson funds art, music and play therapy for children whose siblings have died. We were founded during quarantine of 2020. During that time, we found children’s therapists who specialize in grief.

Starting a non-profit during a pandemic comes with challenges. It hasn’t felt safe to have large, in-person gatherings to fundraise. We have held a few online fundraisers that have helped get us off the ground. We are working on becoming more known in the area. The group of people that we provide services to is a group that no one wants to belong to but it can be life-changing for the families who need it.

Another part of the foundation that we are developing is placing “Buddy Benches” at local schools. My son, Jackson’s elementary school placed a buddy bench because Jackson was always a great friend to everyone. We held a fundraiser so we could place another bench at another school in our district. We raised enough money to place a total of 3 benches at local elementary schools, This is another way that we can share Jackson’s story and help kids who may not have anyone to play with.

We work with a local business who makes beautiful wood projects. He is invested in helping us place as many buddy benches as possible.

Nothing I can do will bring my son back. I will do anything I can to share his story and make him the legend that he aspired to be. Jackson and his daddy made bucket lists about 6 months before he died. He said he wanted to “become a legend.” This isn’t how we wanted that to come true but people remember his story. We want Love Like Jackson to be known for caring for kids and families whose lives were shattered.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Creating a foundation has been a definite challenge. Despite my 18 years of prior experience working in a non-profit, starting your own, during a pandemic has been tough. I have bumbled my way through it but it has become my heart’s work. When you are a non-profit, having large in-person gatherings is how you can raise a lot of funds. It just hasn’t felt right so rather than putting a ton of work into planning an event, and then having to cancel it, I decided to hold online fundraisers. I will always say that in-person is best but online is better than nothing!

In some ways, things have fallen into place. This is how I know I am walking in my purpose. I have put so much work into making things the way I have envisioned. Some things have worked, others have flopped. I am learning so much and I have never made less money but loved my work as much as I do now.

As a non-profit, my budget is small. This led me to making my own website, which I have never done before. And it’s not great but I did it myself!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Love Like Jackson is a 501c3 and we fund art, music and play therapy for children whose siblings have died. We are also known for raising awareness about the importance of children’s mental health by placing buddy benches at local elementary schools.
We are different because we focus on children whose siblings have died. There are other local agencies who help grieving children but not only siblings.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
We have been proud to be part of a local networking group that has helped us so much along the way. If you are looking to grow your business or gain visibility, networking is the way to go! Asking for help if you don’t know how to do something is the best advice. There are things that I am good at and others that I could drive myself crazy trying to figure out by myself. If there is someone who is an expert in the field, I would much rather ask them.

Contact Info:

• Email: lovelikejackson1219@gmail.com
• Website: www.lovelikejackson.org
• Instagram: lovelikejackson1219
• Facebook: @lovelikejackson