Hamiltonian Jen Christiansen has been nominated in the community spirit category of the Pride of New Zealand awards. Photo / Danielle Nicholson
A Waihi couple whose son drowned last August call Hamilton's Jennifer (Jen) Christiansen "an earth angel".
Jen creates stone casts of babies and children who have died at no charge to the bereaved families.
Julia and Jason Tapp nominated Jen in the community spirit category of the Pride of New Zealand Awards.
The Tapps' three-year-old son Ezra drowned in the Ohinemuri River last August. It was a family member who'd heard of the casting service Jen offered and got in touch. Jen raced to Waihi where she cast Ezra's hands and feet, and one of Julia and Jason holding Ezra's hand.
"The casts really do mean everything," said Julia. "It's an understatement. I've said to so many people who've seen the casts that if we had a house fire, we'd get the other kids out and the casts. They are literally irreplaceable. It means so much to be able to hold Ezra's hand."
Julia said she'd have to ask Jen to repaint one of the hand casts.
"We've held it and cried over it so much that the paint is wearing off."
And while the Tapps say it's been wonderful to have a reminder of their son, it's the detail of the casts that makes them extra special.
"You can see every little line, his little nails," said Julia.
"Ezra stubbed his toe two days before he died... I remember him running up to me asking me to kiss it better. When we got the casts back, Jen said she didn't know if the mark was a miscast and to fix it up. But it wasn't... it was where he'd stubbed his toe."
Julia and Jason feel it's helped their other two children to have something to hold and touch rather than just looking at photos of their brother. And, almost a year to the day that Ezra died, the Tapps will welcome another son.
"We're expecting a new baby at the end of August. I only just realised when I was writing the nomination for Jen that because we have these casts, this baby will have the ability to not just see photos of his brother's hand but to hold it."
Jen launched Angel Casts in 2013. It was borne out of Jen's home business, Preggy Pukus Life Casting that saw her create stone replicas of babies and children's hands and feet as well as mothers' pregnant bellies.
It was when Jen was asked to cast a stillborn baby boy for the first time the she realised the value of a family having their child's hand to hold forever.
"Having three boys of my own this was pretty emotional. I decided doing this was something I could never charge for. Money should never come into it. This is someone's child. I never want to profit from another mother's loss."
In between the demands of her own family, Jen spends hours each week being called to Waikato Hospital, funeral homes and family homes around the Waikato to take casts of children who have passed away. She then spends countless more hours perfecting the detail of the casts, painting and framing them.
The materials Jen uses are expensive but she pays for it herself with the money she makes from her Preggy Pukus business. She also relies heavily on donations through her Give a Little page and other outlets.
In December, she won $10,000 in Jennian Homes promotion where she competed against hundreds of other individuals and charities to win cash from a prize pool of $50,000. But she's down to the last $1000 of that.
Jen has about 30 families she's currently working with. Given each set of casts and framing costing between $120 and $150, funds are getting dangerously low.
Despite the struggle to scrape together enough money to keep offering the service, Jen is generous in other ways too.
"She won $5000 worth of Air New Zealand travel and when she turned up to give us Ezra's casts, she handed over not just $2500 of those travel vouchers but also a $500 Prezzy card," said Julia. "We took our other children to Dreamworld. Jen just gives and gives and gives and gives. She's always thinking of other people ahead of herself. We've dubbed her an Earth angel."
"There's something incredibly special about Jen," said Jason. "When we lost Ezra, she came into the room and managed to bring light into our darkest time. Just her presence in the room...."
Jen's work has inspired others to do the same. Several families she's worked with have found their own way to "pay it forward" by offering remembrance items such as paintings, personalised teddy bears and soft heart-shaped pillows weighted to a stillborn baby's birth weight.
To donate to Angel Casts go to www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/angelcasts.
Angel Casts is also one of the community organisations selected by Z service station on Lincoln Street to be part of their 'Good in the Hood' promotion this month. Customers are given a token they can place in a box for the charity of their choosing. At the end of the month, $4000 is divided proportionally between four local organisations or charities.
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Nominations for the 2015 awards have now closed.
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