Our Inspiration
"Our mission is to intercede the hardship of the Neonatal & Pediatric Intensive Care experience by providing culturally competent resources directly to underserved families during crisis.”
Kristopher “Beanie” Jordan Gipson
The NICU Warrior.
Kristopher Jordan Gipson was born to Kenyatta Yarn on May 20, 2021. He spent 31 days in NICU after birth, however he was not expected to ever make it out of the NICU. From birth, Kristopher was diagnosed with an array of physiological and developmental disorders which he persistently fought throughout his life.
The Journey.
As a single mother, living hundreds of miles away from family members, Kenyatta worked remotely full time up until his last hospital admission. They spent days and nights in multiple hospitals, tirelessly working with a team of doctors to come up with a plan of action to find a cure for Kristopher while never leaving his side. He had a happy at home life full of baby giggles, holidays, meeting family & friends at least 9 of his 13 months of life.
The Battles.
On May 16,2022 Kristopher was admitted to Kaiser Medical Center of Santa Clara for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and gastroparesis. Baby Kristopher had conquered many hospital visits battling cerebral palsy , respiratory issues, pneumonia, seizures, Ketogenic diet trials, and COVID-19, this hospital stay proved to be the most difficult. Kristopher remained in the pediatric intensive care unit and failed to recover.
The Transition.
On June 22, 2022, baby Kristopher transitioned and went home to be with the Lord. Despite Kristopher’s ongoing battles, Kenyatta found herself unprepared mentally, emotionally and financially to cope with this disheartening reality. No parent is ever prepared enough to have to lay their child to rest.
Perspective.
For his mother, the hospital experiences throughout Kristopher’s life, gave perspective of feeling like just another patient number amongst a sea of detached medical professionals testing different theories of medicine on the love of her life. The resources provided from social workers led to rabbit holes of information that were impossible to navigate while trying to juggle coping with the reality of managing doctor appointments, administering a multitude of hourly medications & treatments, advocating for the best medical care, consistent transportation, being a full time employee & most importantly being a full time single mother spending every possible lasting moment with her son.
Inspired.
You cannot imagine what it feels like to be a parent facing this battle until you wake up one day in the NICU/PICU world and find that your life may potentially change forever. Kristopher Jordan’s legacy left his mother inspired to create a way to ease at least part of the process by making tools more accessible to families as they navigate the storm of these overwhelming circumstances whether it is temporary or permanent.
Meet Our Founder
Kenyatta Renee Yarn
May 20th of 2021 Kenyatta Yarn gave birth to a little boy named Kristopher that would change her life forever. Although Kristopher’s life was cut short due to a birth injury, the experience planted the seed of passion in her for helping other families in need during such critical circumstances.
Kenyatta is a college graduate of San Jose State University, with a Bachelors of Arts in Behavioral Science. She has always had a passion for understanding the behavioral needs of children and families.
Becoming a single mother surviving a NICU/PICU experience at the loss of her child gave true perspective to navigating the systems relying only on resources sought out from her community and nonprofit network.
She was fortunate enough to of have spent prior years working in the nonprofit industry specifically focused on children and family needs through the African American Community Service Agency of San Jose CA, and First 5 of Santa Clara County. She also served as the Perinatal Equity Initiative CoChair for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (2019).
Pictured: Kenyatta Yarn, February 2021