Kathy Wilson holds baby “Hope,” a four-week old, living
at Mary’s Shelter with his mother, “Bridget.”
(HENRIETTA
GOMES | CATHOLIC HERALD)
Sitting around a humble kitchen table, four women chat and laugh among
themselves in a modest home in the downtown district of Fredericksburg. A
three-week-old baby in a deep slumber lay peaceful in a pastel blue basinet
on the floor next to his mom, who glances over at him and smiles.
Windows dressed with curtains, floors covered with rugs, walls adorned with framed
art all lend themselves to making it a cozy home, but the house is a temporary
shelter for women experiencing crisis pregnancies.
Mary’s Shelter is unique, explained Kathleen Wilson, one of three initiators
of the apostolate that allows parishes around the diocese to sponsor women and
their unborn babies.
Wilson, a parishioner of St. Matthew in Spotsylvania, and fellow home-schooling
moms, Theresa Rosseau and Christine Taraschke, started the program, which
has already hosted 10 women in the last year, four in the last two months.
Apartments and houses are rented and furnished and pantries are filled with groceries
, all for women to live in while they prepare to become independent. Parishes
that sponsor the women are given bi-monthly updates and opportunities to write
letters and visit the women, who are given saint names for parishes to protect
their privacy.
After the babies are born, the mom and the infants are presented in front of
the parish.
“It’s a beautiful moment. It’s a witness to the dignity of
life. It’s a ripple effect. People will see even just a prayer for the
baby is effective,” said Rosseau. She hopes that hearing the stories of
the women and seeing the babies that were in danger of abortion will inspire
the parishioners to continue supporting the program.
Each woman has her own story to tell about how she stumbled upon Mary’s
Shelter.
Pregnant and alone with no where to go, “Bridget” of the Bronx, N.Y.,
had been sleeping on a chair in an apartment crammed with extended family. “I
felt hopeless,” said the 22-year-old, who did not know how she was going
to raise her child.
Knowing she needed to get out, she called a long list of shelters only to learn
each time that there was no space for her.
She searched online and found the Sisters of Life in New York, who helped her
contact Mary’s Shelter, a safe haven away from the hustle and bustle of
the city. Although she was apprehensive about leaving New York and temporarily
relocating to Fredericksburg, “Bridget” knew she needed a change,
and at seven months pregnant she took refuge at Mary’s Shelter. Three weeks
ago she gave birth to a baby boy and is planning to go back to school soon.
“We become their mentors. We have a real relationship with them,” said
Wilson, who stood in the kitchen with the women.
While various events inspired the three Catholic moms to start the home, Wilson
spoke about her experience while praying outside an abortion clinic on a Saturday
morning with her children, friends and fellow parishioners. She walked up to
a woman sitting in her parked car near the clinic.
“What can I do for you?” Wilson, desperate to help, asked the woman.
“What can you do for me?” the distressed woman said, looking for
a solution.
Wilson felt paralyzed. She knew she needed to do something to offer some sort
of physical support to women in crisis pregnancies.
Together with Rosseau and Taraschke, they sought to do something.
“Many of the women who think about abortion are at the poverty level … They
are in the situation because they had no other alternatives,” said Rosseau.
The three friends learned about a man from China who lost his job and was determined
to return to China to work, but he knew his wife, pregnant with their fourth
child, would be in danger of a forced abortion if she returned to their homeland.
They asked people in their parishes for donations, rented out an apartment for
the woman, and provided financial and medical support with the help of pro-life
groups and agencies.
It was the inspiration they needed to start Mary’s Shelter. “There
was little going on in the area within the pro-life moment and we wanted to rejuvenate
it in our churches,” said Rousseau about getting the involvement of parishes.
She said St. Matthew in Spotsylvania and St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
in Fredericksburg have adopted women.
More than 2,000 years ago, the innkeepers in Bethlehem “missed an opportunity
to see the beauty of the Divine,” said Rosseau. It was God Himself who
the people turned away.
Like the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph some of the women have called many shelters
and “found no room at the inn,” said Rousseau.
The birth of a baby is a “divine moment,” she said and she did not
want to let those moments escape her.
“We’re stepping out in faith. That’s the way we’ve done
it so far,” said Rosseau, noting that pro-life groups and organizations
such as Gabriel Project, Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, Sisters of Life in
New York, Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society have rallied
together to support the program.
“The Holy Spirit hit us over the head,” said Rousseau.
For Wilson, the project is a calling from God. She noted that one of her favorite
aspects of the program is to be in the room when the young woman is giving birth.
Many of them are alone and have no spiritual or emotional support, not to mention
a lack of financial support.
“I’ve never felt so fulfilled,” she said as her eyes welled
up. “I still feel like there’s more that I should be doing,” said
Wilson, who has 10 children.
“Bahkita,” a native of Sierra Leone, who had been living with her
family, was told to leave when she was pregnant and her unborn baby’s father
was not ready to meet the family. “I was really confused,” said the
young woman, who has been in the United States for four years. Not knowing
what to do, “Bahkita” considered having an abortion. When she walked
into the clinic she knew she could not go through with it and “kill anybody,” she
said looking down at her belly.
Learning about Mary’s Shelter through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, “Bahkita,” now
eight months pregnant, was apprehensive, but came to visit.
“When I came here I was so amazed,” she said. “Bahkita” conceded
that when she heard the word, “shelter” she assumed it would be an
uncomfortable overcrowded building. On the contrary, she was greeted by loving
people who cared for her, she said. Looking over at Wilson and Rosseau, she said, “They
are like ‘mom’ to us.”
“This is a chance to witness a moment of faith in action,” said Rosseau,
who along with Wilson and Taraschke visit the women often. To give women a chance
to have their babies is a gift from God, said Rosseau. “It’s a glimpse
of the divine.”
Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com
How to help
To adopt a pregnant woman in need through your parish, contact marysshelter@hotmail.com.
Donations can be sent to:
Mary’s Shelter
14318 River Junction Dr.
Fredericksburg, VA 22407
