Emilee & Ben Blackburn - Tatum's Love Foundation

Voices of Impact with Ryan France

How To Turn Pain Into Purpose

Through their marriage and the birth of their first child, Emilee and Ben Blackburn had nothing but blessings. But then, an unexpected hardship rocked the core of the Blackburn family?—?a stillbirth of their second child, Tatum. During the grieving process, Emilee suggested the family find a way to turn that pain into purpose. With a naming suggestion from the Blackburn’s first child, Walker, Tatum’s Love Foundation was founded.

“We’re always thinking of things that we can do to give back. That helps with our grief,” the couple says. “We show other families this is what helps us, so they can possibly get through their grief by doing the same thing that we are.”

Tapping into Ben’s experience running a family business, the Blackburns have moved Tatum’s Love Foundation from a message of hope to a proven program, raising $80,000 to support the stillbirth loss community. And along that path, Ben and Emilee also created Fathers For Hope and Mothers For Hope. Both groups have fundraising initiatives of their own and provide safe spaces for parents to share their difficult stories.

In this episode of Voices of Impact, The Blackburns talk about how they’ve created a proven model for funding support programs. We discuss viewing a nonprofit from a business owner standpoint, the benefits of building a board of directors, and finding a healthy outlet for channeling grief. And Ben shares his belief that "every new life, no matter how fragile or brief, forever changes the world."