St. Gerard Life Home aids young unwed mothers-to-be

By Matt Weafer
Western Kentucky Catholic

Pregnancy at a young age is stressful enough. But when the girl doesn’t have a family to depend on or a home to sleep in safely, pregnancy can seem like the beginning of the end in more ways than one.

The St. Gerard Life Home is designed to aid homeless, unwed mothers, older than 18 — offering a safe, comfortable home for the girls to reside in during their pregnancy and up to three months after the birth of the baby.

“St. Gerard Life Home was started because Birthright is no longer housing girls,” Rita Heinz, director of programs for Catholic Charities, said.

Catholic Charities will operate the home.

The house, which was donated anonymously, is currently under renovation and should be open by June.

Heinz said the address will not be published for future residents’ safety.

Sister Joseph Angela Boone, OSU, director of administration for the Owensboro Diocese, said the St. Gerard Life Home will offer unwed mothers a place to stay, provide clothing and prenatal care.

“It’s going to be absolutely well worth the time and energy that goes into it if we can save one life,” Sr. Joseph Angela said.

The home will hopefully help prevent young women from aborting the pregnancies or from living in unsafe environments.

Named after the patron saint of pregnant women, the St. Gerard Life Home will offer pregnant girls the time and counseling to help them prepare for motherhood and independence.

“In addition to providing shelter we want to assist girls in obtaining healthy pregnancies,” Heinz said. “We want to provide them information on parenting and budgeting and assist them in finding employment and housing after the child is born.”

Many young women after becoming pregnant are either abandoned by parents or boyfriends, or their home life is — or becomes — abusive.

In such a vulnerable situation, the young woman often has no place to retreat.

“Basically our purpose is to help them obtain shelter and proper nutrition and facilitate independence and their ability to parent after the baby is born,” Heinz said. “They can stay there with their babies for up to three months after the baby is born. We want to help them get back on their feet.”

Through a variety of programs such as counseling and education, the St. Gerard Life Home will hopefully help save the lives of many unborn babies and help the young mothers find a firm foothold in the workforce, hopefully creating a stable, happy and healthy new family.

For more information contact the Owensboro Pastoral Center at 270-683-1545.