How did Evaheld get started?

For years and in a personal capacity, cofounders Michelle Gomes and Michelle Costa had been helping terminally ill people create content for their loved ones, safekeeping it and then delivering it for them after their death. This deeply personal work brought meaning to countless families facing loss, but it relied on in-person support that wasn't scalable or accessible to everyone who needed it.

Then unexpectedly, Sydney was thrown into the first COVID lockdown in 2020, and the founders could no longer help people create content in person. This was devastating. They just knew something had to be done—this service had to be accessible to people no matter what, come pandemic or what may. The crisis revealed a fundamental truth: legacy preservation is too important to be limited by geography, circumstances, or availability.

During lockdown, Michelle Gomes channeled her energy into helping friends set up a little old cupboard with food items, which became known as the Newtown Blessing Box. Soon it was serving hundreds of people every day, inspiring a string of street pantries across Sydney. But what really struck Michelle was that just like her experiences helping people create content for their loved ones had little to do with the content, these street pantries had very little to do with food at all—although that did help. They were in fact a conduit for connection, with countless people pouring past each day simply to connect with each other, the community, and to feel connected.

For Michelle Costa, it was her father's experience which really augmented her commitment to memorialising people. After the death of her father who had battled dementia for over a decade, she did not have any personalised content from him or featuring him, except for old family photos. She would've given anything to have a video of him, to hear his voice (which she now finds hard to recall), see his face in motion and to feel his love, not only for herself but also for her children. Through Evaheld, she vowed that if she can help other people who have felt the loss of loved ones to degenerative diseases—often long before their deaths—then she would.

These experiences crystallised into Evaheld's founding mission: to create a platform where anyone, anywhere, could preserve their legacy, document their wishes, and maintain connections across time. Where technology would scale the compassion, not replace it. Where families would never again face the regret of conversations not had or voices not preserved. In 2021, Evaheld officially launched, transforming personal tragedy and insight into a movement helping thousands of families preserve what matters most.