Shawnte Mallory didn’t want to abort her third child. But once she announced her pregnancy, the baby’s father left her. She lost her job and had to move out of her apartment. She moved in with her parents, and her mother soon scheduled her for an abortion. “Of course I didn’t want to have an abortion, I love my kids,” said Mallory. “But at that time, my back was against the wall. I didn’t want that responsibility of having to bring a child into the world struggling and not knowing how I was going to feed my other kids.”
Then Mallory found Mary’s Shelter, a maternity home in Fredericksburg. When she arrived in 2014, she felt at home. “It was very warm, it was very welcoming, I had never experienced anything that beautiful,” she said. “I was able to be somewhere safe and be able to give birth to a child and also have my other children with me as well. They didn’t even know they were in a shelter.”
In light of the leak about the upcoming Supreme Court ruling that might overturn Roe v. Wade, television talk shows, editorials and social media have been abuzz with speculation about the future. If the power to legislate abortion restrictions returns to the states, the procedure will still be permitted in Virginia. In states where abortion becomes heavily restricted, there may be more pregnant women in need of help.
In the boundaries of the Arlington diocese, there are more than a dozen pregnancy resource centers and several maternity homes, including diocesan Catholic Charities’ St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional Housing; Borromeo Housing Inc. in Arlington; Carried to Full Term in Haymarket; Good Shepherd Alliance in Ashburn; and New Eve Maternity Home in Winchester. These organizations and their supporters have helped pregnant women, their unborn babies and their children for years. They’re poised to continue that work, no matter what happens.
“We will continue to answer the calls and serve women and do whatever we need to do,” said Kathleen Wilson, founder and executive director of Mary’s Shelter. “We’re going to meet whatever comes our way.” Over the years, Mary’s Shelter has grown from one apartment to four apartments and three homes within walking distance of each other, including one recently purchased eight-bedroom house. The organization’s growth is due to the support of local churches, donors and volunteers. “The needs don’t go unmet,” she said.
Mothers who come to Mary’s Shelter each face different challenges, said Wilson — abusive partners, mental health issues, drug or alcohol addiction and immigration problems. If Roe is overturned, there will still be those crisis pregnancies, said Wilson, a parishioner of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg. And if abortion is made illegal in Virginia, women still may feel pressure to get an abortion elsewhere. “The same needs that bring a woman here now will be there no matter what the verdict is,” said Wilson.
Often, mothers need help after leaving Mary’s Shelter, too. “We give scholarship funds to those who leave and then go back for education. We do Christmas for them, we do Easter for their kids. We’ve paid so many rents to help people out or found donated cars for women who left,” said Wilson. “I think sometimes I spend more time with ex-residents than I do with present residents.”
Mallory’s stay at Mary’s Shelter was only a year. Life hasn’t always been easy since she left, but she now lives in an apartment with her five daughters, and she works for a church in Washington. Wilson is still in her life. “She’s actually like (a mom to me), she’s always there for me, she doesn’t give up on us,” she said. Inspired in part by Mary’s Shelter, Mallory dreams of opening her own shelter.
“My pastor just preached last night, (saying) everything that we go through is not for us, it’s to help someone else,” she said. “That’s all I really want to do is to help people who are going through (homelessness). I know that’s where God is leading me.”
An hour away from Mary’s Shelter in Orange is the Paul Stefan Regional Home and Education Center. Evelyn and Randy James, parishioners of St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg, founded the maternity home in 2006 in honor of their sixth child, Paul Stefan, who died 42 minutes after being born. The home, formerly a hotel and assisted living facility, has multiple rooms with adjoining bathrooms, a kitchen, a library, a gym and a closet where moms can get baby clothes and supplies. They hope to open the third floor to residents later this year, and to help others open similar homes in the future.
It’s rewarding work, said Randy. “The women who come here for the most part, they’re not shown love,” he said. “A lot of them don’t know about Jesus or God, and we have an opportunity to turn that around in their lives. Like Mother Teresa (said), how do you change the world? One person at a time.”
Danielle Nicholson came to the home in 2012 when she was pregnant with her daughter, Lei’Lani. She stayed for five years. “Before I found out I was pregnant, I partied a lot. I drank, I did drugs, I sold drugs, I lived a really rough life,” she said. “I knew the moment I found out I was pregnant that I needed to change my life.”
Nicholson has accomplished a lot since then. She’s lost more than 200 pounds, and maintained a lower weight. She earned a bachelor’s in theology. She now lives in an apartment with her daughter. To stay self-sufficient, she sometimes works a few jobs, including waitressing and working for Culpeper Human Services as a foster care worker. “Living at the Paul Stefan Home made me the professional that I am because I am so incredibly passionate about the wellbeing and safety of children. I want any child I’m involved with to know that they are supposed to be loved and supported,” she said.
Nicholson credits Evelyn with her parenting skills. “I would not be the mother that I am if it was not for Evelyn James. I had no idea how to parent a baby, but she taught me how to parent a baby and a toddler and a young child and showed me what love really was. Evie not only helped me parent my kid but she continued to raise me. She gave me tough love and every lesson that I needed in my life.”
Brooke Cumings lives in the Paul Stefan home with her twin baby boys, Aiden and Gabriel. She’s been able to raise her babies and plan her next steps: finishing her bachelor’s degree and finding a job as a technical writer.
“I came here very broken and very defeated and I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “The people here have really helped me a lot. I never thought that I could find hope again or even passion within myself to take care of my kids. God brought me here for a reason.”
