The Hoboken Girl Team 
A meaningful new memorial honoring pets we’ve lost is in the works for Hoboken. The Local Girl Media Group is excited to share that our team plans to bring a Rainbow Bridge Memorial to Elysian Park in Hoboken, New Jersey. The project is designed as a permanent space where residents can honor and remember pets who have passed away. A Go Fund Me has been created to support the project and fund the build out, in partnership with Wise Animal Rescue, the project’s official non-profit. Here’s more about The Rainbow Bridge Project that we’re excited to bring to Hoboken:
A Personal Project Rooted in Loss + Community
The initiative was founded by Hoboken resident Jennifer Tripucka, founder of The Local Girl Media Group, who shared that the idea came from a deeply personal place. She lost her dog, Pierre, in 2022 to brain cancer.
“Our pets are family and walk with us through every season of life,” she said. “When we lose them, the grief is real and lasting. It’s something that many go through, and there aren’t a ton of resources around. I wanted to create something meaningful for our community, a place to reflect, remember, and heal.”
In 2024, she visited Lake Lure, North Carolina’s rainbow bridge and gardens, and was inspired to bring a similar project to Hoboken.
The memorial aims to bring people together through a shared experience of love and loss, offering a peaceful, physical space in Hoboken for remembrance.
The Plans to Come
Plans for the installation include a small pedestrian bridge featuring a rainbow walkway. The structure will be thoughtfully integrated into the natural landscape of Elysian Park. The project draws inspiration from the well-known Rainbow Bridge poem as well as an existing memorial in Lake Lure, North Carolina, with the goal of creating a similar sense of comfort and connection right here in Hoboken.
Visitors will be able to leave their pets’ collars on the bridge as a symbolic gesture, honoring the idea of the “Rainbow Bridge” as a place where pets are reunited with their owners in a peaceful afterlife.
A Community-Wide Effort
The project is being developed in partnership with the City of Hoboken, with support from local leaders and organizations, and a Go Fund Me has been set up for the project. All funds will be directly aiding the project’s construction, and Wise Animal Rescue is set up as the official non-profit partner.
Key volunteer contributors include:
~ The Hoboken Girl team, led by Jen Tripucka
~ Mayor Emily Jabbour and Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who are helping guide City involvement
~ WISE Animal Rescue, serving as the project’s official nonprofit partner – and all donations remaining will go directly to the rescue
~ Eiko LaBorria of The Flow Initiative, providing programmatic support
~ Dr. Lisa Lippman, Co-Founder of the Pet Loss Community and Medical Director of Bond Vet
~ Jamie Silva, leading engineering design via Sabio Engineering
~ Ashley Goldstein, leading PR efforts
~ Stevens Institute of Technology senior design team, contributing through coursework + their capstone
Together, the group is working to bring both emotional and structural integrity to the memorial and make it a lasting piece of the Hoboken community for visitors far and wide to enjoy and come for solace.
How to Support the Project
The GoFundMe has been launched to support the build, with any additional funds going directly to WISE Animal Rescue. Local residents and businesses will also have opportunities to get involved through future sponsorships and initiatives as well as attending the ribbon cutting ceremony + placing collars on display.
For more information or to donate, visit therainbowbridgeproject.org or the project’s GoFundMe page.
You can also follow along on Instagram at @therainbowbridgeproject.
