Kristen Tomlinson is an experienced grief counselor and advocate for families who choose to honor their loved ones through the gift of life. Kristen is the Director of Grief Support services at Taylor's Gift and the Caring Guide and Kindred Hearts Coordinator for Taylor's Gift Foundation and Youturn Health. She joins Liz on the podcast to talk about her passion for helping donor families move through the complicated grief of losing their loved ones while having the unique opportunity to save someone's life.
There are over 100,000 individuals waiting for an organ donation in this country. Having a conversation about organ donation with a loved one not only gives the gift of life to the recipient but can help ease the process of donation. Organ donation creates a mix of emotions from grieving your loved one to gratitude that their organs will save lives.
Having gone through this painful process of losing their daughter Taylor in a ski accident, Todd and Tara Storch decided to embark on a mission to provide support tailored to donor families. Their non-profit, Taylor's Gift, was created to make sure that no donor family walks through the donor process alone. Through the Kindred Hearts Program, they provide a personal Caring Guide as well as access to support groups with trained facilitators who have experienced similar pain and trauma.
In 2016, Kristen started her donation career at Community Tissue Services in the Donor Referral Center taking incoming referrals and approaching families. She then worked her way up to Supervisor of the department and helped with process improvements and staff support. She also spent time working for Life Connection of Ohio, the OPO servicing Dayton and Toledo, as the first Family Services Coordinator where she was able to help build the program and serve donor families in her hometown. Prior to joining Taylor’s Gift Foundation, Kristen was the Donor Center Quality Control Coordinator for Miracles in Sight, the Eye Bank working in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Austin, Texas. Kristen has also served as a Caring Guide and Kindred Hearts Coordinator for Taylor’s Gift Foundation and YouTurn Health. Kristen’s passion for family support began at the tender age of 17 years old when she sat by the bedside of a dear friend who died of cancer and became a cornea donor. Kristen would drive 60 miles one-way to be with her friend and his family, offering support during such a hard time; This experience was the catalyst that led her to this career path. Most recently, the loss of her beloved grandfather at the height of COVID fueled Kristen’s passion to ensure no family should suffer alone. In her free time, Kristen loves to read, write, travel, and spend time with her family and friends. She is married to her best friend, Tory, with whom she shares two beautiful children. https://www.taylorsgift.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-tomlinson/ https://www.organdonor.gov/ https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/
Kristen Tomlinson is an experienced grief counselor and advocate for families who choose to honor their loved ones through the gift of life. Kristen is the Director of Grief Support services at Taylor's Gift and the Caring Guide and Kindred Hearts Coordinator for Taylor's Gift Foundation and Youturn Health. She joins Liz on the podcast to talk about her passion for helping donor families move through the complicated grief of losing their loved ones while having the unique opportunity to save someone's life. There are over 100,000 individuals waiting for an organ donation in this country. Having a conversation about organ donation with a loved one not only gives the gift of life to the recipient but can help ease the process of donation. Organ donation creates a mix of emotions from grieving your loved one to gratitude that their organs will save lives. Having gone through this painful process of losing their daughter Taylor in a ski accident, Todd and Tara Storch decided to embark on a mission to provide support tailored to donor families. Their non-profit, Taylor's Gift, was created to make sure that no donor family walks through the donor process alone. Through the Kindred Hearts Program, they provide a personal Caring Guide as well as access to support groups with trained facilitators who have experienced similar pain and trauma. In 2016, Kristen started her donation career at Community Tissue Services in the Donor Referral Center taking incoming referrals and approaching families. She then worked her way up to Supervisor of the department and helped with process improvements and staff support. She also spent time working for Life Connection of Ohio, the OPO servicing Dayton and Toledo, as the first Family Services Coordinator where she was able to help build the program and serve donor families in her hometown. Prior to joining Taylor’s Gift Foundation, Kristen was the Donor Center Quality Control Coordinator for Miracles in Sight, the Eye Bank working in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Austin, Texas. Kristen has also served as a Caring Guide and Kindred Hearts Coordinator for Taylor’s Gift Foundation and YouTurn Health. Kristen’s passion for family support began at the tender age of 17 years old when she sat by the bedside of a dear friend who died of cancer and became a cornea donor. Kristen would drive 60 miles one-way to be with her friend and his family, offering support during such a hard time; This experience was the catalyst that led her to this career path. Most recently, the loss of her beloved grandfather at the height of COVID fueled Kristen’s passion to ensure no family should suffer alone. In her free time, Kristen loves to read, write, travel, and spend time with her family and friends. She is married to her best friend, Tory, with whom she shares two beautiful children. https://www.taylorsgift.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-tomlinson/ https://www.organdonor.gov/ https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/
read more
read less
