Kids Connecting Parents app launches in Moranbah
After Moranbah mum-of-two Kimberly lost her teenage son, Ethan, she saw first hand the need to connect with other people experiencing loss, so she created an app.
Mackay
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A brand new app has launched with a goal of helping Australian parents and carers living with child loss to find each other and create meaningful connections.
The Kids Connecting Parents App was created by Moranbah mum-of-two and psychologist Kimberly Stevens who started developing the platform three years ago following the loss of her teenage son, Ethan, to T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
“After losing Ethan I deeply felt and understood grief and loss and wanted to find a way to help other parents and carers who were feeling the same,” she said.
“With the Kids Connecting Parents App now live, it is my hope that parents and carers who are living with the loss of their child or children, find each other and make genuine connections of emotional support.”
She said the app would help those living with loss build strong support networks for themselves, their families and their communities.
“When bereaved parents connect in meaningful ways, they often experience an immediate and profound understanding,” she said.
“This shared connection can help them feel less alone in their grief while creating opportunities for hope and healing.”
Ms Stevens said the app combined the psychology of positive social connection, grief and loss, and shared lived experience with online geolocation and social networking functionalities to facilitate those connections.
“The app searches from wherever you are and whenever you need, so it can be used at home or away from home.”
Users are prompted to set a search area and distance which will allow them to explore the generated list of parent profiles and send connection requests through the app.
The app was officially launched at the Moranbah Miners Rugby League Club on Saturday where Ms Stevens moved the audience with a touching tribute to son Ethan before presenting the app to Australia.
Isaac Regional Council Mayor, Kelly Vea Vea, said she was proud to see the app launched in the regional community.
“For families in regional communities like ours, the hardest part of grief can be the isolation,” she said.
“The Kids Connecting Parents app helps bridge those gaps, turning distance into closeness, and connecting grieving parents in times of loneliness.”
She said the app was about making sure no parent walked this road alone.
“Not in the city, not out in the regions, not anywhere,” she said.
“It’s about turning pain into purpose, and isolation into community.”
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Originally published as Kids Connecting Parents app launches in Moranbah
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