Featured image: Kristen Himmerick, right, stands with her husband, Shaun, and daughter, Stella, at the dedication of Carmen’s Giving Tree in her mother’s memory at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields earlier this month.
The Franciscan Health Foundation recently launched a program to help new moms in honor of former nurse and long-time employee Carmen Freilich.
Carmen’s Giving Tree provides new mothers who give birth at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields access to essential items such as car seats, diapers and other necessities, at no cost. Freilich’s family felt the program was a fitting tribute to a woman who dedicated her 40-year career to supporting women throughout the childbirth experience.
Freilich began her career at the former Olympia Fields Osteopathic Hospital in the early 1980s as a Lamaze teacher and later became manager of Women’s Health and Related Services. In 1989, she founded The Woman’s Place at the Olympia Fields hospital, a groundbreaking women’s clinic that embraced an osteopathic philosophy of holistic care.
“The center was focused on treating the whole person and provided women and new mothers with a library of resources long before the internet was widely available, (including) a nurse to answer questions and an easy way to schedule necessary services,” said her daughter, Kristen Himmerick. “She identified a gap in women’s healthcare and created The Woman’s Place to help meet the health needs of women.”
Freilich graduated from Columbia University nursing school in 1959 and worked as a nurse in New York before moving to Illinois with her husband, the late Dr. Theodore Freilich. Carmen Freilich spent the last 20 years of her career at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields.
Carmen Freilich died in 2022 and her family started Carmen’s Giving Tree this spring in her name to honor her legacy and lifelong commitment to service.
“(My Mom) was a strong believer in giving, even when she was on a fixed income,” Himmerick said. “She believed that women deserved access to healthcare and supported many charities for women and children. At the end of her life, when she could no longer walk or talk without pain, my mom expressed that she still wanted to give to others.”
Earlier this month, Franciscan Health Olympia Fields dedicated a memorial in Carmen Freilich’s honor, attended by her patients, doctors, family and friends. Her memorial will reside in the Family Birth Center, a place Himmerick said was near and dear to her.
“I am proud that Franciscan Health will still be serving women and new mothers in my mom’s name 40 years after she founded The Woman’s Place,” Himmerick said. “Mom made an indelible impact on both the hospital community and the people she served, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, humor and dedication to women’s healthcare.”
Franciscan Health Foundation of South Suburban Chicago Executive Director Laurie Crosby thanked the Himmerick family for their generous gift.
“Kristen’s impactful memorial gift not only continues her mom’s legacy of selfless giving but truly allows her to live on in the lives of the babies who will benefit from Carmen’s Giving Tree,” Crosby said. “We thank Carmen’s family for their generous gift emulating her mother’s unwavering compassion and stewardship.”
Anyone wishing to contribute to Carmen’s Giving Tree may do so on the Franciscan Health Foundation website or by calling the Foundation at (708) 852-2430.
