About Us

Our Mission

The Tiny Miracles Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping families with premature infants in and around Fairfield County, Connecticut.

We know from personal experience that the premature birth of a child can be a shocking, isolating and frightening experience for many families. Although area hospitals are able to meet most premature infants' medical needs, the emotional and other needs of the family during this fragile time often go largely unsupported. The Tiny Miracles Foundation seeks to fill this void by providing support, information, services and supplies to the families of premature infants regardless of race, religion or national origin, during and immediately following their hospital stay.

Through our programs, The Tiny Miracles Foundation strives to promote the best possible care for children born too early and those who love and care for them.

Who We Are

The Tiny Miracles Foundation is made up of parents of preemies from Fairfield County, Connecticut. We came together because we all knew what it was like to fall through the looking-glass and land in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

In that new world of the NICU, we learned a new language: sats, surfactant, IVH, ROP, CPAP, brady, and kangaroo care. We sat in front of isolettes and peered in at our babies, willing them to breathe and wondering how we were going to bond with them.

We became accustomed to the steady, shrill drumbeat of beeps, bells and alarms. We learned that 30 CCs is roughly equal to a fluid ounce, that 28 grams is roughly equal to an ounce, and we measured our babies' progress in those tiny increments. We slipped wedding bands over impossibly tiny wrists. We took pictures of our children next to beanie babies, hoping they wouldn't look too small. We struggled with feelings of guilt, and anger, and jealousy. We washed our hands until they chapped, and then we washed them some more. When we were finally able to take our babies home, we felt joy and terror. We celebrated every milestone, no matter how minor, and we learned to not compare their progress to full-term babies.

But most of all, we never stopped being thankful for our tiny miracles, and for the doctors and nurses who make miracles possible.

We've been there. And now we want to be there for you.

Contact us.

Our Staff

• Gwendolyn F. Noto
  Executive Director, Co-Founder
• Kelley Chapman
  Office/Program Manager
• Marie McHugh
  Bookkeeper and Database Manager
   

Click here to read biographies of our staff members.

The Tiny Miracles Foundation Board

The Tiny Miracles Foundation 2012-2013 Board of Directors

Top Row, Left to right: Lisa Tantillo, Cheryl Egan, President Leelee Klein, Richard Goldman, Ariane Triay, PJ Marcella, and Lori Church

Bottom row, left to right: Christa Struk, Co-Founder and Executive Director Gwendolyn Noto, Vice President Patricia Cunningham, Kerry Hanson, Linda Queenan and Corporate Secretary Shelli Milazzo

Not pictured: Eric Broder, Robert Duffy, Teresa Dusch, Treasurer Ashley Dineen, Marisela Esposito, and Peggy Sawala

• Gwendolyn F. Noto
  Executive Director, Co-Founder
• Meredith Daniels*
  Co-Founder, Honorary Board Member
• Elizabeth S. Klein
  President
• Patricia Cunningham
  Vice President
• Michele (“Shelli”) Leigh Milazzo
  Corporate Secretary
• Ashley Dineen*
  Treasurer
• Eric Broder*
• Lori Church
• Robert J. Duffy*
• Teresa Dusch*
• Marisela (Sela) Esposito*
• Richard M. Goldman
• Kerry O. Hanson
• PJ Marcella
• Linda Vallo Queenan
• Peggy Sawala*
• Ariane Triay

Honorary Board Members

• Kimbel Biele*
• Meredith Daniels*
• Cheryl Egan
• Rebecca O. Esposito*
• Eila D. Johnson*
• Tara E. Leclerc*
• Kathy Konopka Streinger*
• Lisa J. Tantillo
• Eileen S. Thomas*

Board Members Emeritae

• Jill Hooper*
• Sarah Lockwood Payne*
• Christa Hanley Struk

Click here to read biographies of our board members.

*not pictured

Advisory Board

• Julie Brown, RNC
  Nurse Manager, Newborn Intenstive Care Unit
  Bridgeport Hospital
• Susan Chudwick, CFRE
  Director of Development
  Bridgeport Hospital Foundation
• Gloria Greenidge, MA, MSW, LCSW
  Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Care Management & Social Work Department,
  Stamford Hospital
• Robert Herzlinger, MD
  Director, Neonatology
  Bridgeport Hospital
• Jill Immermann, RN, MSN
  Patient Care Manager, NICU & Pediatrics
  Norwalk Hospital
• Stephen Jakab, CFRE
  President
  Bridgeport Hospital Foundation
• Kathy Livolsi, RNC, MHA
  Director, Maternal-Child Health
  Stamford Hospital
• Cheryl Menzies, MD
  Associate Director, Neonatology
  Bridgeport Hospital
• Gerald Rakos, MD
  Chair, Department of Pediatrics
  Stamford Hospital
• Christopher Riendeau
  Senior Vice President, Fund Development
  Stamford Hospital
• Meltem Seli, MD
  Director, Neonatology, Norwalk Hospital
  Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine
• Vicki K. Smetak, MD
  Chair, Department of Pediatrics
  Norwalk Hospital
• Francine White, RN, CCM
  Nurse Case Manager, Case Management Department
  Norwalk Hospital