Foundation helps families after tragedies

“I never forgot that feeling,” she said. “For the next few years while Lindsey was recuperating from her injuries, I thought about that and wanted to do something for other families in that situation.”

State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, recently honored Frazier at the State Capitol in Sacramento as his district’s nominee for “Women Making Herstory.” Frazier is also a co-founder of Our Healing Hearts, which supports women who have lost children.

“It was a special moment for me to honor Janet at the capitol,” Glazer said in a statement. “She has put her heart and soul into her life projects to offer care and support for women and families who have lost children or are worrying about them as they lay in hospital beds.”

Glazer said Frazier has dedicated years to supporting women and families with children in hospitals, and her strength came from her own tragedy.

Frazier said in a statement she was honored by Glazer’s recognition and to be a part of an event showcasing women’s accomplishments across many fields.

“The ceremony at the state capitol was filled with amazing women, whose passion, dedication and perseverance are making a difference in the lives of others,” Frazier said. “It was so inspiring to be among women with truly unique stories about the impact they are having on so many people.”

A former Oakley resident, Frazier retired from Chevron after 41 years and now lives in Concord.

The Network of Care has also partnered with high schools in Brentwood and Antioch to allow students in special education classes to help with the assembly of the bags as part of their vocational skills program. Janet and all of her staff are volunteers.

Local resident Lil Pierce, founder of the Brentwood Regional Community Chest, has been with Janet from the beginning, organizing Network of Care’s annual crab feed fundraiser. “It’s a very heart-wrenching start to a really wonderful organization,” Pierce told the Press in 2019. “Many people have been in the situation when you’ve had someone in the hospital, and you don’t want to leave the room. her volunteers work hard to organize an event that keeps people coming back each year.

Using the money earned at the crab feed, as well as donations, supplies are purchased to make the meal bags that go all over the state. Special needs students in Brentwood were responsible for packing 80 percent of the bags. Francis Krohn is a special education teacher at the Gateway Program in Brentwood where she supervises her students as they pack meal bags and learn valuable career skills.

“We (get the food), then we pack the bags,” Krohn said. “Each bag gets a meal and a flyer with the story of how the Network of Care got started. I think the program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn vocational skills. We teach work ethics, quality control, and teaching that everything is done a specific way.”

Krohn added that many of her students embrace the project because they have had hospital experiences themselves.

“The students are excited because they are doing something good for people and they want to help,” Krohn said. “They learn Janet’s story and are really touched by that.”

Meals aren’t the only thing the Network of Care is sending to hospitals: Frazier also donates blankets, craft kits and stuffed animals to the network of hospitals asking for meals. Her hope is that the recipients of her bags will feel comforted, and then pass on the kindness.

“I hope that people will receive a bag and pay it forward,” she said. “That is my hope. That it makes them think about what somebody did for them, and if they give back in some way, at some time, somehow, then I’ve done my job. There is one man who received a bag of food from us, and wanted to pay it forward, and now he paints murals on hospital walls. That’s what I hope to accomplish.”

In a recent interview with the Press, Frazier also encouraged support for another one of her passions, “Vocal for Victims,” which was created by prosecutors and victim advocates “to give true meaning to crime victim’s rights by providing fee-free legal representation to crime victims, the only non-profit organization to do so in Contra Costa County.” The nonprofit group is hosting a fundraiser on Thursday, April 27, from 5-7 p.m. at the Contra Costa Country Club, 801 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill.

For more information on The Network of Care, call 925-584-4086, email janetfraz123@gmail.com, or visit their Facebook page for an updated list of events. Donations can be made at www.thenetworkofcare.org.