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Maggie’s Place rounds up circles of support
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
November 1, 2007
Having a baby can be a joyous, but scary time, especially for mothers without a circle of support.
Maggie’s Place, a Catholic-based ministry that provides a home for expectant mothers alone or living on the streets, set out to take away that fear seven years ago.
It has now helped 170 women and launched a campaign to make sure the ministry endures.
Its annual “Giving Birth to Dreams” campaign runs through November. Maggie’s Place hopes to expand its network of volunteers and raise $200,000 to fund daily operational costs at its three homes across the Valley.
It costs $25 a day to support a mom and her baby, which is $600 per month. It costs at least $300 per month to keep the houses at a comfortable temperature.
The houses, which together shelter 25 mothers, have been full since mid-summer.
The ministry also needs money for its first national expansion into Idaho early next year.
“The financial piece is real and necessary,” said Mary Peterson, founder and executive director. She added that relationship building with surrounding churches, schools, businesses and families is just as important.
“We want to match what they’re willing to give with what we can use,” said Paul Kent, who is co-chairing the campaign with his wife, Julie.
The couple prepared tip sheets with ways parishes, businesses and schools can support the campaign. Students at St. Gregory School recently held a canned food drive for alumni moms that staff will sort and distribute.
“We just wanted a little pick-me-up as they headed into the holiday season,” Peterson said.
Staff regularly cares for former residents, but its top priority is helping current ones through their pregnancy and first six months with their baby.
Julie Kent was pregnant with her first son when she and her husband volunteered at Maggie’s Place.
“I had a wonderful husband and a beautiful house and I was scared,” she said. She couldn’t imagine facing a pregnancy by herself.
“You don’t really realize how alone you are when you’re alone,” said one of the moms living at the Elizabeth House in Tempe. “And then to have these people help you without even knowing you is an amazing, amazing feeling.”
Volunteer staff lives in community with the moms to help them with round-the-clock care and personal development.
The Elizabeth House needs someone to help with landscaping. The Magdalene House in Phoenix needs painters and the Michael House in Glendale is in need of a mechanic to service the moms’ vehicles.
Ongoing needs include help with general house operations, last-minute tasks and monthly cleanups. Volunteers could also come in as guest speakers.
The moms are required to attend a weekly group session where they discuss their struggles or learn about goal setting and self-improvement.
Paul Kent, who offers financial counseling, said his best moments at Maggie’s Place are when he helps a mom get a refund that she can put into savings for her child.
That’s not the only Maggie’s Place success story.
One mom who left the drug scene to have her baby at the Elizabeth House recently graduated from cosmetology school. Another moved to a Habitat for Humanity home where she helped with its construction.
The Maggie’s Place babies are doing well, too. One just started kindergarten at St. Thomas the Apostle School and another is at St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe School. These are kids who may not have had a chance at life if it weren’t for the support of Maggie’s Place.
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