With every woman: How Catholic maternity homes are serving mothers

CNA Staff, Jan 18, 2024 / 08:00 am

As tens of thousands of pro-lifers from around the U.S. gather for the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, CNA took a closer look at maternity homes that provide shelter, support, child care, and more for mothers in need. 

This year, the national March for Life will focus on the theme “With Every Woman, for Every Child.”

The pro-life movement takes many forms throughout the United States. Some pro-lifers run crisis pregnancy centers while others pray in front of abortion clinics; some advocate and educate about unborn life, and others shelter and support pregnant women in maternity homes.

There are more than 400 maternity homes throughout the U.S. CNA went in-depth into three of the homes that are Catholic in their founding and mission. What unites them all? Laypeople work together with religious monks or sisters to support every expectant mother and every child. 

With every woman: Good Counsel Homes

“Our doors are open to every pregnant woman,” said Christopher Bell, president and co-founder of Good Counsel, a maternity home based in New York.  

In 1985 Bell and Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, who died in 2014, founded Good Counsel Homes in New York. The organization has since expanded to four different locations with three of its maternity homes in New York state (in the Bronx, Staten Island, and Rockland County) and a New Jersey location in Burlington County.

Bell spoke to CNA about what makes Good Counsel distinct.

“No matter how desperate the situation is, no matter how dire, no matter how tragic or abused anyone is — we know through the love of Christ, we can see beauty grow,” Bell said. “And we can only do that if we have opportunities for mothers and their children to grow.”

“And that’s why even in New York and New Jersey where the environment is so pro-abortion, we still have many women calling us who are giving birth and want to give birth, despite all the pressure, and in spite of having had one or two, or more, abortions,” Bell continued.

Good Counsel has provided shelter and support to more than 8,200 mothers and children since their opening in 1985, and 1,314 babies have been born to mothers at Good Counsel Homes. 

“We know in maternity homes, we see and we believe the truth, which is love conquers. All real love is sacrifice, and where there’s love there is life,” Bell said. “And where there is life there is hope and where there’s hope, there’s creativity, and that creativity gives us opportunities to love even more.”

The organization will take in any and all women regardless of struggles with addiction, the number of children, mental illness, or other factors. Bell noted that many of the women they support are escaping domestic abuse at home. They also frequently support women who have difficult pregnancy diagnoses, where women are often encouraged to abort by doctors.

When asked about the effect of New York’s pro-abortion laws — which allow abortion up to birth in some cases — Bell recalled that almost every woman they helped had been encouraged to abort by someone in her life.

“Half of the women who come to us had an abortion [already], and [for] too many of them it was at the insistence of a parent or a friend,” Bell recalled. “Sixty percent or more of women who had abortions felt pressured; they felt some pressure. So if they were given support instead of pressure, many, I won’t say all, but many of these babies would be born and those women would be happier.”

According to a 2023 study by the Charlotte Lozier Research Institute, more than 60% of women “described [their decision to have an abortion] as coerced, pressured, or inconsistent with their own values and preferences.”

Good Counsel also offers a post-abortion counseling service called Lumina. If a woman in their house experiences a miscarriage or has a high-risk pregnancy that results in the baby dying, Good Counsel helps make funeral arrangements, including a funeral Mass.

“We know and love and mourn this child of God and someday we hope to be in heaven together,” Bell said. “In maternity services, we have to spread hope even where there’s sickness and death, and we have to spread hope about healing.”

Good Counsel encourages mothers to pursue education so that they can support their families going forward. Because Good Counsel offers child care in addition to meals and housing, many mothers who stay at Good Counsel can develop their education. Bell noted that many of the mothers become nurses, for instance. Good Counsel staff also help train mothers in a variety of programs as needed, such as budgeting and vocational assistance, parenting classes, and nutrition classes. 

When asked about his hopes for the future of Good Counsel, Bell said he hopes “that every pregnant woman would know she can get help, and that everyone who’s been involved in an abortion can know that God forgives.”

A way for college women: MiraVia 

Based in Belmont, North Carolina, at Belmont Abbey College, MiraVia offers housing, child care, meals, and support for pregnant college students. 

“I appreciate that the theme of this year’s March for Life emphasizes ‘With Every Woman,’ because we must dispel the myth that the pro-life community cares more about the babies than the mothers,” said Debbie Capen, executive director of MiraVia. 

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“As a post-abortive woman myself, I remember hearing that false narrative when I was in college, which caused me to distrust pro-life organizations,” she explained. “We must continue to meet women where they are so they can see for themselves who we are.”

The Benedictine monks who run the Catholic liberal arts college offered MiraVia a space on their property to build a maternity home. 

“We were invited here by the Benedictine monks who founded Belmont Abbey, and it is our honor to reflect their charism of Christ-like hospitality and service,” Capen said.

The name of the organization itself means “miraculous way” in Latin. 

Each year MiraVia hosts an average of eight mothers as well as their children. The maternity home includes private suites, child care facilities, and community spaces where “our student mothers can continue their higher education while embracing the gift of motherhood and making lifelong friendships.”

“What especially differentiates us is our on-campus location,” Capen said. “We often hear about the importance of inclusivity at colleges and universities, but most pregnant and parenting students certainly don’t feel like there is a space for them at their schools.”

MiraVia’s doors are open to students of any faith background — they do not even have to attend Belmont Abbey. 

“Similar to a Catholic college or hospital, we serve people of all faiths and strive to live out our faith in service,” Capen said. “MiraVia’s program is located at Belmont Abbey College, but our clients can attend any school and we have served students from 12 colleges and nine states.”

When asked about her hopes for MiraVia in the future, Capen shared that she hopes to reach more college students.

“We hope that eventually, other colleges will invite MiraVia to come and serve their pregnant and parenting students,” Capen said. “We now have more than a decade of collaborating experience serving pregnant college students and we have a vision to bring this culture of life to schools everywhere.

Sisters for mothers: St. Clare’s Home

St. Clare’s Home in Charleston, South Carolina, is a maternity home staffed by religious sisters for expectant mothers who are in need of shelter, safety, and security.

“A woman experiencing a crisis pregnancy needs loving support to help her when others have abandoned her in her time of greatest need,” said Valerie Baronkin, the executive director of St. Clare’s Home. “St. Clare’s can offer that help to the mom so that she can care for herself and the child.”

A mother-daughter duo worked with their local diocese to found the home after the daughter had several dreams about bringing a maternity home to her home state. When Claire Pizzuti and her mother, Kim Capelle, met with local Bishop Robert Guglielmone to get his blessing for the organization, he suggested the Diocese of Charleston could help run it. 

The Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel staff the home in Greenville County, South Carolina, which houses up to eight women and their children. 

St. Clare’s hosts many women in challenging situations who were previously homeless or abused. The home offers classes on life skills ranging from financial management and career to oil changes and cooking.

“St. Clare’s is a program, not just a shelter,” Baronkin noted. “An expectant mom needs to agree to attend classes to prepare for childbirth, learn to care for her child, and learn how to take care of a home and finances to prepare her to take care of herself and her children.”

The program also operates a pregnancy aid center that helps provide mothers in need with material support and resources.

“St. Clare’s Home also offers women help and support even if she is not a resident of the home,” Baronkin said. “We have helped over 300 women outside the home with baby items and alternate resources.”

The home is named for St. Clare of Assisi, and the staff aspire not only to teach mothers life skills but also to help show them their value as daughters of God.

“The Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel help with the mission of caring for the moms. Our Catholic faith is never forced on a mom. However, through our loving example and prayers, moms have become interested in learning more about our faith,” Baronkin said. 

“Two residents came back to their Catholic faith while at the home,” she continued. “We had two babies baptized and three moms are currently in RCIA, so we expect four more babies to be baptized this spring.”

When asked about her hopes for the future, Baronkin said that in addition to continuing their mission, they hope to expand. 

“We desire to continue helping moms with their individual hopes and dreams for themselves and their babies. We want to expand our resources, assisting moms to achieve self-sufficiency,” Baronkin noted. “We also would like to work on long-term housing for moms because low-income housing is getting extremely difficult to find.”