Who We Are

Our Story

Angel Names Association (ANA) was founded in May 2001 by Michelle and George Mosca, six months after the stillbirth of their firstborn son, Nicholas, at 37 weeks. When they were at the cemetery picking out a plot for their son, Michelle noticed plots that weren’t marked, or that were marked with what looked to be temporary metal plates. She decided that while she couldn’t do anything to save her son, she could help other families enduring the loss of a baby to have a fitting memorial for their child.

 

Today, ANA—a nonprofit, 501(C)(3), charitable organization—provides a variety of supportive services to families of stillborn children. Its programs provide financial assistance for end-of-life expenses such as autopsy, funeral, cemetery and monuments, and for counseling services for uninsured or underinsured parents. It also provides funding for much-needed stillbirth research. Although ANA’s primary focus is on stillbirth, several of its programs are designed for families who endure miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death.

 

Additionally, the organization sponsors Angel Names Association Memorial Walk in Saratoga Spa State Park each October. The 10th Annual Memorial Walk in October 2015 was attended by 750 people and raised $47,000. The event, which is free to attend, is a vital source of fund-raising for ANA.

 

ANA is a member of the Council of Community Services of New York State (CCSNYS), a 501(C)(3) membership-based, mission-driven, statewide association of diverse charitable nonprofit organizations; and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce (SCCC).

 

ANA is also a member of the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA), a nonprofit coalition of organizations dedicated to understanding the causes and prevention of stillbirth. The ISA’s mission is to raise awareness, educate on recommended precautionary practices and facilitate research on the prevention of stillbirth. ISA serves as a centralized resource for sharing information and connecting organizations and individuals.

Angel Names Association
Memorial Walk

Learn more about the Angel Names Association Memorial Walk.

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Board of Directors

Lisa Rose

Vice President

Lisa works for a school district in the Special Education Department. She​ first attended the memorial walk in 2005​​​ ​in memory of her stillborn daughter, Kaylee Elizabeth-Jane, and has spent the past 10 years volunteering with ANA. ​ Lisa has also worked on committees to develop curriculum for pregnancy loss support groups​ ​and ​volunteered for many years with the March of Dimes.​ ​She became an ANA Board member in October 2014 and was elected Vice President in November 2015​. L​isa enjoys sharing her compassion to help raise awareness and help families know that they are not alone.​ She resides with her husband, Matthew, and she treasures her role as stepmom to Maci and Graisen.

Michelle Mosca

Cofounder & President

Michelle’s firstborn son, Nicholas, was stillborn at 37 weeks due to a cord accident. Six months later she and her husband founded Angel Names Association. Michelle has a BA degree in psychology and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the honors program at SUNY at Potsdam. Upon graduation she worked in the neuropsychology and medical fields in NY, AZ and LA; and as an administrator for a nonprofit association in Albany, NY. Michelle is a member of the Saratoga Springs Chamber of Commerce, and past President of the Corinth Central Schools Board of Education. For nearly a decade she was a Senior Associate Researcher and Study Coordinator for an NIH-sponsored research project at the University at Albany School of Public Health. In addition to Nicholas, she has two sons, Jovanni and Carlos.

Lisa Hunter

Board Member

Lisa is an elementary school teacher. Her interest in ANA came after the birth of her son, Angel, who was stillborn at 40 weeks, 3 days on August 22, 2010. She and her husband also have a beautiful daughter who was born in February 2012, and a son, born in 2014. She was elected to the Board of Directors in 2012 and hopes to raise awareness about the prevalence of stillbirth.

Guiding Principals

ANA strives to fulfill a mission founded on the following principles:

 

  • The experience of stillbirth profoundly affects parents and their families.
  • End-of-life services should be available to all families of stillborn children.
  • The ability to provide end-of-life services for stillborn children helps families move through the grief process and promotes healing.
  • Counseling services can help families address the grief associated with infant death.
  • End-of-life services enable parents to honor the life of their stillborn baby.
  • Education programs designed to inform healthcare providers and the community about grief and mourning specific to infant death promote greater understanding and an improved ability to appropriately support bereaved families.
  • Recognition and acknowledgment of a stillborn baby’s life is essential. The baby’s existence, however short, touches the lives of all who knew he or she existed and all who learn of his or her death.
  • Research can lead to a greater understanding of the causes of, and therefore ways to prevent, stillbirth.
  • Research can lead to the development of scientific advances that may help to prevent some instances of stillbirth.

Board Structure & Requirements

 

ANA has an 18-seat board. Board members are all volunteers and have experienced stillbirth or a related loss in a personal or professional capacity. Board positions require attendance at monthly Board meetings and completion of additional tasks for which Board members volunteer.

 

Board members who volunteer for various assignments are expected to report on their findings at subsequent meetings. Board elections and officer appointments take place at the ANA’s annual meeting in October. Board members may also be elected at any time to fill vacant positions.

 

Board members elected at the annual meeting serve one-year terms, and those elected mid-year serve until the annual meeting. Board members may be re-elected; there are no term limits.

 

Meetings are held in Saratoga Springs on the third Monday of the month and last approximately two hours. Anyone is welcomed to attend.

PO Box 423

Saratoga Springs NY 12866

518-654-2411

mgmosca@msn.com