In a small room in her home, Hot Springs Village seamstress Colleen Angel makes tiny angel gowns that families across the country can use for their babies who passed too soon. She rips up donated wedding dresses, turning them into something that gives grieving parents a memory they will always hold close. She uses every bead, lace and scrap from each dress to create these beautiful gowns.
She was inspired to start this ministry after her cousin lost her baby. She has since volunteered for several local organizations and now works on these gowns full time from her first floor workshop in her home. She has donated to hospitals across Arkansas and even four other countries.
Wright sees her ministry as a way to spread the love. She’s seeded other projects through her work, even in Africa where her pastor at Grandview United Methodist Church has connections with a hospital there.
The hospital where she works, University of Michigan Health – West, also has an angel gown program that accepts repurposed wedding dresses to make burial gowns for NICU infants who pass away. This practice offers dignity to a family in a difficult situation, and Wright says it’s a privilege to be a part of that service.
In the United States alone, more than 626,000 babies are born through still birth or miscarriage each year. It’s a heartbreaking statistic and a reason for these special angel gowns that will be forever loved by their families. Each kit is donated to a hospital or bereavement group and contains a special gown, blanket, two hats and a memorial trinket.