Garden of Remembrance: Honoring the preborn on sacred ground

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a quiet transformation is underway on the grounds of the former Arcadia Women’s Clinic, a place where thousands of abortions took place over its 28 years of operation. Not Forgotten Ministries is creating a Garden of Remembrance for Preborn Babies — a sacred space dedicated to healing, restoration, and honoring lives.

Redeeming the Ground

For me, this is deeply personal. This is where I had my abortion in 1999. I walked through those doors at 16 years old believing I had no other choice. I walked out of those doors covered in shame.

For 17 years, I buried grief and emotional turmoil. But God, in His mercy, unearthed it all and began to heal me. That healing became the foundation of Not Forgotten Ministries, which now reaches women and men across 35 states and 11 countries with the message that healing after abortion is possible.

For years, I carried my grief in silence. There was no place to mourn, no space to remember, no permission to say, “My child mattered.”

Now, we return to the very soil where so many wounds began — not to condemn, but to redeem the ground by planting a new story of remembrance, redemption, and hope. We’re creating a space where women, men, and families can honor the children they lost through abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death — where grief doesn’t have to be hidden, and love can be expressed in tangible ways.

A First for North Carolina

While other states have established memorial gardens for the preborn, North Carolina has only offered small tributes, statues tucked beside Catholic churches and modest memorials at a handful of pregnancy centers. This garden will be the first and only dedicated space in the state where individuals can publicly honor preborn babies.

The location itself is profoundly symbolic, transforming the grounds of a former abortion clinic into a place of life, beauty, and restoration. It is a declaration that God can redeem even the darkest chapters of our lives.

What the Garden Will Include

The Garden of Remembrance will have several features:

• Landscaped Grounds: Thoughtfully designed spaces with plants, lanterns, and benches to create a beautiful space for reflection and prayer.

• Engraved Brick Pavers: Personalized memorial bricks will line the pathways, each one bearing a name, date, or verse chosen by the donor. These bricks will serve as lasting tributes to the preborn and as reminders that they are not forgotten.

• Padlocks of Honor: Visitors will be invited to leave padlocks on the fence surrounding the garden. Each padlock will represent a child remembered. Like love locks on a bridge, these padlocks will become a visual testimony of lives that mattered.

• Legacy Benches: Whether remembering a specific child or honoring the healing God provides, legacy benches will become a seat of comfort and remembrance. Each bench will have a personalized inscription.

• One-of-a-kind Sculpture: At the center of the garden will stand Roots of Remembrance, a sculpture designed for our garden, symbolic of a tree cut down, its trunk severed, yet its roots reaching deep. It speaks of lives ended too soon yet never erased. Though the branches were never given time to grow, the roots remain, anchored in our hearts and held forever in the hands of God.

• Memorial Services: The garden will host annual gatherings on the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, offering a place for communal healing and remembrance.

• A Garden Experience: Visitors to the Garden will also be invited into a deeper experience through a dedicated website, accessible by QR code onsite. While spending time at the garden, guests can engage with scripture, songs, and guided prayers. This digital companion will allow quiet reflections, sacred moments, and comfort for healing.

Investing in a Place of Healing

Those interested in helping to bring this vision to life for transforming the space into a sanctuary of healing can help in multiple ways:

🌹 Sponsor a Memorial Brick: Donors can personalize a brick in honor of a child or simply as a statement of hope. 

🌼 Sponsor a Legacy Bench: Donors can personalize a plaque for a bench that will be placed in the garden.

🌺 Make a One-Time Gift: Every contribution helps us reach our goal.

🌸 Become a Monthly Supporter: Ongoing support sustains the ministry and ensures the garden remains a place of care and restoration.

Giving can be done online at www.gardenofremembrancenc.com to help raise the $30,000 needed for this project, or those interested in more information can reach out by email to info@theyarenotforgotten.com.

A Place for All

The garden is not only meant for those who have experienced abortion but for anyone who believes in the sanctity of life. It’s for grandparents who mourn silently, siblings who wonder what might have been, and for friends, pastors, and counselors who walk alongside the brokenhearted. 

When I think back to 1999, I remember the silence. No one told me I could grieve. No one offered a place to mourn. Now, decades later, I am so honored that God has blessed my ministry with the opportunity to create that place — not just for me, but for so many others.

The Garden of Remembrance for Preborn Babies is not just a project but a promise — that healing is possible, redemption is real, and every life is precious.