Affiliate Leader Focus: Renee Novotny & Tammy Patrick, HPH Western NC, HPH New Member Welcome, HPH - Mountain Mamas
Posted
-
- Aug
- 13
- 2026
by Elizabeth Boisson
Clockwise from left: Renee and Ryan, Ali on the slopes, Ali and Tammy, Renee's new book,
Blessings from a Trail Angel
From Renee Novotny:
My son 27-year-old Ryan was an arborist and avid hiker who loved climbing Colorado’s 14er’s (elevation 14,000+ feet). He also hiked 870 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, loved scuba diving, skiing, and enjoyed everything about being in nature. After Ryan transitioned in February 2023 during an ice climbing accident, I searched the internet for grief groups specifically for parents. I was hoping to find a community that understood my grief. I needed help. That’s how I found Helping Parents Heal.
Looking back, I believe Ryan guided me to see a post on Facebook by Kelley Worth who was starting the Western North Carolina (WNC) regional group. I attended her first meeting three weeks after Ryan transitioned. During the meeting I learned Kelley’s daughter Aleia had transitioned just 10 months prior. Early in her grief, Kelley stepped up to help other parents on this journey. At the end of the meeting, Kelley said, “You know, our kids are right here. They are still with us.” I remember looking around. I didn’t see anything. Kelley explained, “Everything is made of energy and our kids changed form. I promise, they are here with us.” This was my very first glimmer of hope.
I started helping Kelley co-facilitate the WNC group in 2025, and I started helping Tammy Patrick, who started the HPH New Member monthly meetings, in mid-2025. Tammy and I understand the complexities of early grief and how foggy our brains can be. During our HPH New Member meetings we share HPH’s language and the helpful resources posted on HPH’s website to help new parents on their healing journey. Our conversations are always heartfelt and welcoming.
Renee has just published a new book!
Renee Novotny, HPH Affiliate Leader and co-facilitator for the Western NC & Beyond group, HPH New Member meetings, and HPH Mountain Mamas recently published her memoir, Blessings from a Trail Angel.
After her 27-year-old son, Ryan, transitioned in a tragic ice climbing accident, Renee descended into unimaginable grief. In the midst of her heartbreak, she began experiencing extraordinary signs, synchronicities, miracle moments, and what felt like unmistakable messages from Ryan.
Blessings from a Trail Angel is a deeply personal memoir and spiritual journey about loss, healing, and the enduring bond between a mother and child. Through her experiences, Renee explores the possibility that our loved ones may remain connected to us in ways we don't always expect—and that healing can make room for hope, purpose, growth, and even joy.
For parents navigating their own journey, Renee offers a gentle reminder: Healing is possible. We are never truly separated. Love never dies.
~Renee Novotny
Author, Blessings from a Trail Angel
From Tammy Patrick:
Ali is my greatest teacher and my best friend. She taught me how to love and how to be a compassionate human being. She was — and still is — a bright light: funny, joyful, an old soul people gravitated toward. She had a style all her own, known for her cool hats, her overalls, and her natural beauty. She was an adventurer too, a well-known freestyle skier who lived fully between Mount Hood, Utah; Big Sky, Montana; and Michigan.
In April 2023, while living in Big Sky, Ali experienced a sudden mental health crisis with no prior history. We brought her home to Michigan and did everything we could to help her find balance. In October 2023, she transitioned by suicide at the age of 23.
I found HPH in January 2024. Ali and I had walked a spiritual path together before she transitioned, so traditional grief groups didn't resonate with me. A neighbor gave me Laura Lynne Jackson's book Signs, which led me to Suzanne Giesemann, and then to Helping Parents Heal. It felt like home.
Through HPH's resources, I learned to trust my new connection with Ali. I went to the meetings, watched the YouTube videos, attended the conference, and leaned into the community — and slowly found my joy, my hope, my growth, my healing. I wanted to give back to the community that had held me up.
I emailed Elizabeth to ask whether there was a group for new members. She called me right away, told me there wasn't one yet, and encouraged me to start one. That's how the New Member Group began. Kelley Worth co-facilitated with me until she transitioned in May 2025, and Renee Novotny kindly stepped in. Renee now helps facilitate three groups, so I'm grateful that Lisa Banks will be joining us in January 2027.
The New Member Group is a soft landing for parents new to HPH— a one-time gathering where we share all the valuable resources HPH offers. We share the mission behind HPH and what it means to be a Shining Light Parent, touch on early grief and self-care, do some breathwork, make room for sharing, and walk through Zoom etiquette. We then walk through the website together, along with the Facebook groups and the affiliate and special-interest groups, so parents can find what resonates. We close with Q&A. Renee and I also recorded a YouTube version for anyone who can't join us live.
We meet the second Monday of every month, 7–8pm ET. Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84777038330
I also co-facilitate Western North Carolina & Beyond with Renee. Kelley led that group and was a soul sister and an integral part of my healing, so when she transitioned, I told Renee I'd step in however I could. We love the tribe Kelley gathered and do our best to keep her vision alive. She's still guiding us.
Along the way, I've become a Reiki Master and, because of HPH, a Certified Grief Educator through David Kessler. I also founded Surf the Earth Mental Health Community, where I serve as board president — a nonprofit built around Ali's own vision of spreading kindness and reducing mental health stigma, including the Community Kindness Gardens initiative in her honor.
I feel deeply grateful to have been divinely guided to HPH. I don't know where I would be without it, and I'm honored to give back now as an Affiliate Leader.
~Tammy Patrick
- Shyrose Nur's Validation with her son Aly and Jodie Werier through Stacey Lynn Cripps
- David Schansberg's Validation with his daughter Lora through Mark Anthony