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Kimberley Heatherington
Our Sunday Visitor
September 16, 2024
"The twin specters of abortion and desperation frequently hover over unplanned pregnancies.
Referencing these realities, Father Donald Rooney, pastor of St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Springfield, Virginia, posed the question: 'What are we going to do that’s going to help somebody?'
Father Rooney, a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, asked that question of his parishioners at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg nearly two decades ago...
Shortly afterward—in 2006—volunteers founded Mary’s Shelter in a two-room apartment that has since expanded to a community of six maternity homes. More than 400 women—and their born and unborn children—have lived at Mary’s Shelter facilities.
Heartbeat International—a Christian interdenominational, pro-life organization that supports the world’s largest network of crisis pregnancy centers—estimates there are over 400 maternity homes in the U.S., an 8% increase since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and other related abortion precedent in 2022.
While he humbly denies it, Father Rooney’s committed determination also convinced two more communities to launch maternity homes.
'When the Dobbs decision came through, and they repealed Roe v. Wade—and everybody was doing their victory laps—I said, ‘Wait a minute. We didn’t ‘win’ anything,' ' Father Rooney told OSV News, referring to the Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022, ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 'If anything, now we have more responsibility than ever to help these women who are going to be needing to find solutions.'
One of those solutions is Mary’s Comfort, a new maternity home in Springfield for single mothers. Modeled on Mary’s Shelter in Fredericksburg, mothers and babies can stay for up to two years.
Mary’s Comfort was blessed Aug. 9 by Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who also chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
'It is my hope and prayer that Mary’s Comfort flourishes in Springfield, becoming a bright beacon of hope for mothers in need of shelter, support and new beginnings,' Bishop Burbidge said. 'As an independent Christian organization,' he added, 'Mary’s Comfort shows how believers anywhere may work together to serve their brothers and sisters.'
Volunteers hope to expand Mary’s Comfort to four or five future homes.
'It’s not just diapers and changing tables,' said Father Rooney, noting the holistic approach Mary’s Comfort takes to residents. 'It’s a program to really get the woman on her feet—with a budget, and a job, and a house, and complete their education. And whatever counseling might be necessary, we want to provide that.'...
'By providing real resources for mothers and for their babies—that’s how we abolish the abortion mindset,' Jessica Freyne, executive director of Providence Pregnancy Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, told OSV News. 'Real help—not just a place that gives you a pack of diapers and a pack of wipes and sends you on your way, and tells you to come a month later.'
While qualifying that every bit of assistance surely helps, Freyne also insists upon personal connections.
'You can’t affect people’s lives just by handing them diapers,' she said. 'It’s a good thing—people have material needs—but really, where change takes place is in relationships. That’s where you really get to show love.'...
Laura Magruder, CEO of Maggie’s Place in Phoenix, shares a similar philosophy.
'If we’re going to be a society that wants to value the birth of a child,' she said, 'we’ve got to be there to help people parent—that’s all there is to it.'
...Maggie’s Place locations throughout Arizona’s Maricopa County offer housing, support services, enrichment, education, and health and wellness to mothers and babies who can stay up to a year...
More than 1,201 moms and 75 babies have called Maggie’s Place residences—which can accommodate 34 moms and infants per night—home, according to a 2023 community impact report...
'It really does take a lot to raise a child—it takes a lot of support,' Magruder said. 'People need to know there’s a network around them of people that care—so they can stay sober, and they can stay positive, and they can bounce back when they’ve been knocked down.'
Freyne echoes that assertion with what could be the motto of those who walk with women in a crisis pregnancy.
'If you want to save babies, you have to love their mothers,' Freyne said. 'That’s what maternity homes do; that’s what pregnancy centers do.'"
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