Jackson Chance Foundation

🦉 111 miles for the families who need us most — and registration is officially OPEN.

Join us as a rider, team, or sponsor for our annual Owl Ride benefiting NICU families. Sign up for the two-day ride by 5/31 for our best early bird registration pricing!

In 2025, you helped cover one month of parking for 370+ families. Let’s beat that.

Registration Link in bio. August 15–16, 2026.

Ride for you. Ride for your story. Ride to honor a loved one. Ride because you know how much this community matters.

Meet Bailey - born on 11/11 at Northwestern Prentice Women’s Hospital at just 2 lbs 3 oz, she came into this world on her own terms. Though 12 weeks early, the date was no coincidence in spirit - November 11th is also the birthday of Jackson Chance himself, the little boy whose life and NICU journey inspired the founding of this very foundation.

Her parents, Kyle and Dana, spent a week in the hospital before her arrival, grateful for every day she continued to grow. What followed was 78 days in the NICU. “A NICU experience is not something you can prepare for the first time,” says Kyle. “Those first days were spent getting acquainted with a whole new world and a daily journey of counting our blessings with each milestone.” From her earliest days in an isolette, to her first tube feed, to the moment they could finally hold her — Bailey steadily grew to over 6 lbs, shed her breathing support, learned to bottle and breastfeed, and graduated to an open crib. The progress wasn’t always linear, but their story is, as Kyle puts it, “a very happy one.”

Throughout those 78 days, the Jackson Chance Foundation’s parking program was a quiet but powerful force behind the Bessa family. “Jackson Chance totally removed any concern about finding somewhere to park on a daily basis so we could be there for our daughter,” Kyle shares. “I could not have imagined a world where we would have had to deal with this on top of all the other challenges of the NICU journey.” In Chicago, daily hospital trips can add up to thousands of dollars. “Jackson Chance lifted a burden off our shoulders and allowed us to focus solely on Bailey’s care and seeing her daily milestones.”

Several of these precious photos capture Kyle and Dana practicing kangaroo care — skin-to-skin contact proven to stabilize a premature baby’s heart rate, improve oxygen levels, and deepen the parent-child bond. 🎀 Today is also Kangaroo Care Day, a reminder of just how powerful a parent’s touch can be in the earliest and most fragile moments of life.

Help future NICU families be there for their babies in the same way, at a cost of just $10 a day. Jacksonchance.org/donate

Mother’s Day looks different for so many. 💙

To the mothers who have memorized every beep of a monitor and every number on a screen. To those who dreamed of this day for years. To those carrying a grief too deep for words. To every mother whose love story began under the glow of NICU lights — we see you, we honor you, and we are so grateful you let us in.

This week leading up to Mother’s Day, we had the privilege of visiting with several families at Lurie Children’s Hospital ahead of their very first Mother’s Day in the NICU. Alongside Mrs. Illinois America 2025, Tracy Heisler Drost, the JCF team was honored to drop off some small tokens of our love and care. But what we received in return was so much greater.

The families who graciously opened up to us shared honestly — about the challenges, the fear, the unknowns ahead, and the exhaustion that comes with life in the NICU. And yet, in the middle of those real and hard conversations, there was also laughter. There was warmth. There were moments of genuine connection that reminded us why this work matters so deeply. That is the resilience of NICU families, and it is nothing short of remarkable.

We are so grateful to our partner hospitals for welcoming us during this special, but often tender, season. And to every NICU mama reading this — you are already doing the most extraordinary thing. Happy Mother’s Day. 🤍

Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day, and this one is close to our heart. 🤍

Postpartum depression, anxiety, PTSD, rage, OCD — for NICU moms, the weight of these very real feelings can be even heavier.

Did you know:
• Up to 40% of NICU parents experience postpartum depression — nearly 3x the general rate
• 85% of NICU parents experience anxiety after discharge — the hardest part doesn’t always end when baby comes home
• 28% of NICU parents receive a formal PTSD diagnosis
• Over half of NICU parents feel lonely and struggle to maintain friendships after leaving the NICU
• And 7 in 10 women hide or downplay their symptoms entirely

So many moms are carrying intrusive thoughts, panic, guilt, fear, and overwhelm behind closed doors — and doing it silently.

Your mental health struggles do not make you a bad mom. They mean you deserve support and you deserve to be heard. 🤍

Swipe through for key facts on postpartum mental health in NICU parents — because awareness saves lives. Conversations save lives. Support saves lives.

If you’re struggling, you are not alone. 💙 If you need help, please reach out:

🇺🇸 National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
Call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)
Free, confidential, 24/7 — available in 60 languages

📞 Postpartum Support International (PSI)
Call or text 1-800-944-4773
Mon–Fri, support in English & Spanish

🏙️ Illinois/Chicago — NorthShore Perinatal Hotline
1-866-364-MOMS (1-866-364-6667)
Live, 24/7, answered by licensed mental health professionals — open to all Illinois families, no appointment needed

🆘 Crisis support: Text HOME to 741741 anytime