MIAMI (WSVN) - Dozens of children who have gone throughout the loss of a loved one graced the stage for a fashion show in Downtown Miami.
Over 120 children strutted their stuff on a runway at the Hilton Downtown Miami, Sunday morning, for the fourth annual Nico’s Promise’s Fashion Show.
Nico’s Promise is the brainchild of Carolina Hernandez Exposito and her family, after the death of Hernandez Exposito’s son Nico in 2012.
“After my son passed away at 3 months of age, my family and I were left with the yearning to want his legacy and life to live on,” Hernandez Exposito said. “We found that a bereavement program with a clinical psychologist would be the best support that we can offer to these families in this terrible time.”
The program has a psychologist who specializes in grief and loss offering her services to families who lose a child at Niklaus Children’s Hospital.
Any family member can use the service, and it is offered at no cost to the family.
“She gives support and it’s really up to the family how much or how little they want,” said Nico’s grandmother, Alina Palacios Hernandez.
Families who use the service can do so shortly after the tragedy, or months after.
“The hospital continues to reach out to the family and continues to let them know that we’re here for them, and ready when they are to help them get through this,” Hernandez Exposito said.
Natalie Pizarro and her husband are some of those who used the service. The couple lost their daughter in July 2015, just a few months before the toddler’s second birthday.
Now, they have another blessing, Ana Sofia, and they credit Nico’s Promise with bringing their family together and helping them reach where they are today.
“It’s just so easy to crash and be in a dark place, and that’s not the right place to go,” Pizarro said. “Bringing it to faith and believing and knowing that there is something bigger and greater and that one day, we will see her again.”
“We celebrate every child that walks on this runway’s life, and honor those, like Nico’s, who is gone too soon,” Hernandez Exposito said.
Nico’s Promise wants to create an endowment so they can continue to help the families in need. Their goal is to raise $1 million by the end of 2018.
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