RTZ HOPE — Free Pregnancy & Infant Loss Peer Support — 20+ Groups
Return to Zero: HOPE (RTZ HOPE) is a national nonprofit providing peer support, retreats, and community for families navigating the loss of a baby. Founded by Kiley Krekorian Hanish, RTZ HOPE runs more than 20 free weekly online support groups, in-person and virtual retreats, an active community across social platforms, and resources for clinicians serving bereaved families. RTZ HOPE’s name reflects what bereaved families often describe — returning to zero in the journey of building a family, and the slow work of finding hope again.
What to Expect
RTZ HOPE’s free weekly support groups are organized around specific experiences and identities — pregnancy loss, stillbirth, infant loss, subsequent pregnancy after loss, dads and partners, BIPOC families, LGBTQ+ families, Spanish-speaking families, and others. Each group is facilitated by a trained perinatal mental health professional or peer with lived experience and clinical training. RTZ HOPE also runs immersive retreats — multi-day in-person and virtual gatherings — where bereaved parents come together for deeper community, ritual, and rest. The annual Wisdom Within retreat is a flagship gathering of bereaved mothers from across the country.
Who This Group Is For
RTZ HOPE serves families affected by pregnancy loss, stillbirth, infant loss, and related perinatal grief. Members include parents, partners, grandparents, siblings, and other family members. The breadth of group types ensures most families can find peers whose loss experience closely matches their own — by loss type, identity, language, and life stage. RTZ HOPE is particularly thoughtful about including families from communities often underserved in mainstream perinatal loss spaces.
Why Peer Support Works
Perinatal loss is shaped by the specific circumstances of the loss — and bereaved families often need peer community that closely mirrors their own experience to feel fully met. RTZ HOPE’s wide range of specific groups (loss type, identity, language, family configuration) makes that match possible. The combination of weekly groups and immersive retreats also creates multiple modes of engagement, so families can choose what fits their grief and capacity at different points.
How to Join
RTZ HOPE programs are free. Visit rtzhope.org to view the current schedule of weekly support groups, register for retreats, join the community, and access resources. Retreat applications and group registration are managed through the site.