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“She’s Like Me” Launches an Online Community Designed to Connect Women Based on Shared Life Experiences

“She’s Like Me” Launches an Online Community Designed to Connect Women Based on Shared Life Experiences

Sometimes women just need a forum to discuss their stories, many of which need serious and urgent attention. Whether it be a recent diagnosis from a doctor, a terrifying miscarriage or a husband’s infidelity, it’s hard to go through it alone. Perhaps you are experiencing a painful divorce while seemingly all of your local friends are happily married? In January 2015 a new website launched called, “She’s Like Me,” that brings together a virtual community of empowered women who have common life experiences providing a safe place to share one’s hardships, offering hope, and an opportunity to lean on one another after challenging chapters in life. Visit sheslike.me.

“I want to reach women that are experiencing any pain that makes them feel isolated and lonely,” says the website’s founder/creator Jessica Redinger. “My goal is that She’s Like Me will jumpstart relationships based on peer support and understanding.”

The Washington State mom of three sees the value of the support group being accessible from the comfort of one’s own home, so there’s no need to secure a babysitter. It is also an affordable option for getting help. When users subscribe for $9.99 per month for 6 months, their membership becomes free for life thereafter.

While “She’s Like Me” is sure to bring women together with a range of issues that are causing them pain, it was actually the loss of her stillborn child last year that prompted Redinger to develop it. “One of the most difficult and distressing aspects of having a stillborn baby was that I couldn’t find anyone to help me through my anguish,” says Redinger. Sure she had friends, a husband and her OB-GYN, but none of them could truly relate to what she’d gone through. She searched online for some kind of support group or organization and came up empty.

From that experience, she knew she had to do something to reach out to the thousands of women who also experienced her pain. In doing research, she found that The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimate that 26,000 pregnancies end in stillbirths throughout the United States each year; that 1 out of 160 births in North America are stillborns (that is one every 20 minutes) and that 40 percent of autopsies reveal no known causes. Having a stillborn child is just one of the serious issues that affect women every day and many issues will be addressed. Local BusinessesRedinger interviewed women from around the country. She was introduced to friends of friends via social media. They admitted going through hard times. “Hearing other women’s stories had a profound impact on me and opened my eyes to the depth of our struggles,” she says. Even If you are past the initial trauma of a life experience, you can still join, offer support, and find friends based on a common ground. Think of She’s Like Me as a match-maker of sorts.

On the front page of the site, you’ll find famous words by Maya Angelou.

“Each of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather super-storm or spiritual super-storm. When we look at each other we must say, I understand. I understand how you feel because I have been there myself. We must support each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike.”

Jessica Redinger feels this quote perfectly describes “She’s Like Me. “We all experience pain at some point in our lives, but you shouldn’t have to go through it alone. This site is for all women, everywhere, all the time,” she says.

Contributed by Amy Levy Public Relations.

Vancouver Family Magazine is a free monthly family magazine with a mission to strengthen a sense of community by providing Southwest Washington families with comprehensive and locally based resources and information regarding parenting, education, news, community events and personalities, recreation, and more. Go here to learn our story and how we connect your family to the organizations, resources and ideas that help your family thrive.

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