We are here to walk with families through the NICU journey — before, during, and after their stay.
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About Our Vision
When Ellison’s daughter, was born at just 28 weeks, she suddenly found herself navigating a world she knew nothing about: the NICU. For 105 days, she and her family lived through the uncertainty, fear, and overwhelming reality of learning how to parent a baby through an incubator.
Along the way, Ellison experienced the incredible care that the NICU providers gave her daughter—but also saw how much families need beyond medical care. They need someone who understands. They need practical support, connection, encouragement, and a community that reminds them they are not alone. Most importantly, she learned that this need does not end the day that you take your baby home from the NICU.
In 2026, Ellison, along with fellow NICU moms Christie Hernandez and Caroline Reynolds, founded the NICU Family Collective. What began with a shared understanding of the NICU journey has grown into a community dedicated to walking alongside families from the moment they learn that the NICU could be a part of their story, while their baby is in the NICU, and once they take their baby home.
Born from lived experience and a belief that no family should have to navigate the NICU alone, The NICU Family Collective is building a community where families across Southeastern North Carolina can find support, resources, connection, and hope—during the NICU journey and long after they go home.
Because the NICU journey is not one families should have to walk alone.
About Our Mission
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The NICU Family Collective walks alongside families through the NICU journey, providing compassionate, family-centered support from the anticipation of a NICU admission through the transition home and beyond. Using trauma-informed principles, NFC connects parents and caregivers with timely emotional, practical, informational, and community support through social services, education, advocacy, and outreach—helping families feel supported, empowered, and less alone.
Our Team
Emily Baldwin, NICU Nurse Practitioner / Founding Board Member
Ellison Clark, Co-Founder / Executive Director
Dr. Robert DiGiuseppe, NICU Doctor / Founding Board Member
Christie Hernandez, Co-Founder / Founding Board Member
Caroline Reynolds, Co-Founder / Founding Board Member
Lee White, NICU Grandfather / Founding Board Member
“The NICU can be an incredibly lonely and difficult place. Everyone is focused on your baby’s medical care, but sometimes you just need someone to look at you and say, ‘I know this is hard. You’re not alone.’
The NICU Family Collective gave us that support — the feeling that someone is walking beside you through the hardest days of your life. And even after you leave the NICU, that connection still matters.”
— NICU Graduate Parent, 2023