2024 Honoree

The Friends of St. Nick are proud to recognize Journey To Parenthood as our 2024 honorees. JTP’s mission is to help couples and individuals dealing with infertility achieve their dreams of becoming parents. This is done by providing financial and emotional support combined with educational resources. The two women behind this foundation are Norwood residents Jennifer Conley and Colleen Brierley. They are supported by an amazing group of volunteers.

Jen and Colleen have been friends since childhood. They each had their own unique journeys to parenthood. Jen and her husband, Kenny, were blessed with her two beautiful children with the love and support of their gestational carrier, Kristine. Making this wonderful gift even more special is that Kristine is Kenny’s twin sister. Colleen has five children including three she and her husband adopted. The birth of Journey To Parenthood came while they were discussing how they wanted to give back and help others who might be struggling emotionally and financially to start or grow their family.

They began JTP in the fall of 2013 and their first grant was awarded in 2015. Since then, JTP has awarded close to $250,000 to couples who have been blessed with over twenty-five babies and counting. Each fall the foundation looks to award upwards of $10,000 to couples and/or individuals building families through advanced fertility treatments, surrogacy as well as adoption. Journey to Parenthood has had numerous fundraising events over the years, however, the most successful on-going fundraising event has been its participation in the Falmouth Road Race; this year fielding a team of thirty-five runners.

Journey to Parenthood is in large part here to help others so that the financial piece is not a deciding factor on being able build a family. Jen and Colleen know that the emotional roller coaster is hard enough, so they want to be a resource for families to help offset the financial costs. JTP has been part of so many young families’ journeys and hopes to continue to be for years to come.