Our “Brooksy” as we lovingly called him, brought us 103 days of smiles. He came to this world with a beautiful white light and that is what he emanated for the short time he was with us. We called him our angel baby – because he was. Brooks was pure love and light. We take comfort in knowing that from the day he was born, every day after was better than his last. He never knew pain. All he knew were smiles and the love that surrounded him.
On May 20th, our perfect boy went down for a nap in a safe sleep environment. Brooks never woke up. Our world was shattered beyond words. We were brought to our knees in despair and were left looking for answers on how this could happen to our perfect baby.
We soon found out that the nightmare we were living was SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is the leading cause of death for children from 1 to 12 months. It affects approximately 2,000 babies each year. Despite the significance of this statistic, researchers know as much now about the causes of SIDS as they did 50 years ago. There are no treatments. There are no tests.
In processing our grief, it became incredibly important to us to have Brooks remembered through the love he brought to everyone he met and the love we had for him. Since Brooks was no longer Earthside with us, we wanted to make sure his beautiful energy could work through us, his parents and brother, to do good in the world. Each family helped knows Brooks’s name. They can feel his light and the love he came here to bring to a world that can feel dark at times.
To date, You and our Brooksy has helped
over 130 families.
Each year, our footprint and partnerships expand, which allows us to touch more families. Brooks has covered funeral expenses and counseling while also assisting in the appropriate match-ups of the right counselors for our lost families. As our support has grown, so have our abilities to provide the right type of help to parents who now are in the shoes we were in a who were in a short time ago.
Learn More About
Our Mission
We exist to help other families survive while in the grips of deep grief. When your child dies, it’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to move. It’s hard to open your eyes in the morning and know that you have to somehow survive in a world that keeps going while yours has stopped. We want to provide families with a chance to survive and begin to put the pieces of life back together, one step at a time.
Brooks Mission supports a range of charitable organizations that offer support to grieving parents.
We primarily focus on mental healthcare and providing a road map to families at their lowest point.
No family should have to endure this time alone. No parent should have to concern themselves with the financial choices that occur after the loss of a child. No parent is an expert in child loss until they are forced to become one. We hope to be a resource so others can find those experts in a time of need.
Our Brooks wants to build and give families a lifeboat during a storm that can seem too much to bear.
We want our son to be remembered for all of the good he has done in this world.
Our Team
Leigh Griffin
Brooks’ Mom
Leigh Griffin was hesitant about starting the foundation at first. She was completely brought to her knees by Brooks’s death. When a child dies, a part of that child’s mother dies as well. It took all she had to wake up and show up for Landon in that first year.. The grief and the trauma that any loss mother feels is indescribable to anyone who has not experienced it first hand. As Leigh began to grow around her grief with the support of Bryan & Landon, family, friends, her job and incredible therapists, she knew that she wanted to help other families that could be put into this horrific situation. There is no roadmap to surviving the loss of a child and we knew that is where our purpose would lie. Leigh now looks at this organization as she and Bryan’s way to parent Brooks. His name is spoken, his legacy lives on, and that has become a great gift for a grieving mother.
Bryan Griffin
Brooks’ Dad
Bryan Griffin began this project to channel his grief and honor his son by helping other loss families. He wanted others to remember Brooks with a smile and to wear Brooks’ name proudly. The early GoFundMe that was set up saw such an outpouring of support that he recognized how fortunate his family was to be surrounded by so many people who loved them. Bryan now shares that love of Brooks by impacting other loss families while serving as a “Dadvocate” for grieving Fathers.
Landon Griffin
Brooks’ Brother
Landon Griffin was 3.5 when his little brother passed away. While Brooks took his last nap upstairs, Landon was playing with his Hot Wheels on the first floor. It is painful for his parents to think about the images he saw that day, but Landon has served as an instrumental part of our family and the motivation behind Brooks’ Mission. Mom found strength in his love and Dad found focus in serving as a role model for him through tragic circumstances. Landon helps pack boxes, wrap baskets, and most importantly, he reads raffle numbers off to the crowd during our annual “Brooksy.”