Welcome to Mending-Me
Hello, My name is Elaine Carroll, President and CEO of Mending Me, LLC I launched this company to provide tools and methods to help heal children and adults who have suffered trauma in their lives. It is an on-going journey for all of us, and I look forward to walking the path to healing with you.
We are embarking on a new year filled with opportunities for change and making a positive difference for us and others. As you all know when we embark on a journey, whether work or personal, there are opportunities, successes, roadblocks and events which impact and alter our course and plans. It has been a journey for me as I have created these therapeutic toys and researched for tools to help children and adults to heal.
There are many wonderful organizations that help children; but unfortunately, there are so many children that do not receive help because they are afraid to communicate. This was the case prior to COVID. The COVID epidemic left these children totally at risk because there was no safety net for them-teachers, school nurse, counselors, social services and other programs all shut down. This reinforced the message- I cannot tell because there is no one who can save me. I always have to come home to face them alone.
When I think of the children who were battered literally to death, it greatly saddens me. This pushes me forward to helping these children heal and become the vibrant children they were meant to be.
Our system is not able to save everyone as you and I want. No matter how well meaning we are, there are many children who are not helped. As there is intervention, it seems as if the parent has a sixth sense that they had better move on before someone finds out the truth-the child can be saved. But it’s our mission to create and educate individuals to help these children let go of their anguish through play; and with their innate resilience heal.
Each time I heard about a child that had been involved in a traumatic event, I realized that other solutions are needed to help both the children and the provider of care whether it be the physician, psychologist, therapist, social worker, nurse, teacher, or caretaker.
The UNCF has the motto, A mind is a terrible thing to waste.†The CDC, in previous years had the motto, “Leave no child behind.†I believe each of us can help a child to reactivate their innate ability to mend and heal, to be all that they are destined to be. Healing the mind, body, emotions and spirit of children is critical, for them and for us, for our children are our future. Although it seems difficult and at times overwhelming, it is so important for all of us with or without children, to do our part in helping in this journey of healing- each child “mending me.â€
So, I started my journey of “what can I do to help all children be safe or at least safer? I started seeing this heart that was broken but then over time with support and nurturing begin to heal. I started “drawing†and creating all kinds of hearts until I knew, this heart was the one; I created the mending heart®[i].
I knew there needed to be more than just a heart because this impacted the whole child, mind, body, spirit, emotions. I wanted the child to displace their feelings onto a soft cuddly toy so that the child was not transferring to a real animal or a real person. So, I created three plush toys for the mending heart to reside in. The hearts are accessible to the child. The mending toys are plush so the child can hold them close and feel softness, allowing them to cuddle the toy. It provides an avenue of communication for the child and the provider, counselor, therapist, teacher. It offers another chance for the child to begin healing, “mending me.â€
[1] ®Patent No.US D767,679 S