| Greetings!
It seems that the last few months have flown by! Mary's Shelter has been a whirlwind of activity - 8 new babies born in the last 3 months, 5 new residents, a new resident intern - all amid the usual happy chaos which defines life at Mary's Shelter. For our staff, it is a huge job just to keep up with all the new changes and developments. Even though we get tired, it is impossible not to see and feel the miracles all around us here. To see all these beautiful babies, many of whom came so close to never being born, is like seeing the hand of God working in our midst.  Thank you for all you do to make these miracles possible.Blessings, Kathleen Wilson, Director
Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. - Mother Teresa
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 | Announcing....
 Our Leap Day Baby! Jeremiah, born on February 29, 2012, 7 lbs., 1 oz.  Baby Landon, born on February 21, 2012, 7 lbs., 13 oz. photos courtesy of Lori Elizabeth Photography |
| A Letter of Thanks from Emily This is a letter that we received from one of our residents. We asked "Emily's" permission to share it with you.Dear Mary's Shelter staff, I want to take the time to tell you that I appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness to the girls at Mary's Shelter. You are those rare breeds of people who are very much and undeniably self-sacrificing and generous with the things you do. I can't thank you enough for all you've done. But I will start by saying thank you for all your help and if it wasn't for you, I probably would still be on the streets or dead with my kids. You don't know what a big help you all are to us and you are very much my savior because killing myself was the next thing in my mind. I couldn't deal with the things I was going through and still am going through but being here has brought me happiness. So once again, thank you. From, Emily |
| Resident Profiles The following are profiles of some of our current residents. All names are fictitious.
Evangelina: Evangelina has been at Mary's Shelter for several months. Lovely and dignified, Evangelina's home country is Togo which is, unfortunately, where her husband is still living. She became pregnant after visiting him last year and turned to Mary's Shelter for help. Her baby, Arielle Mary, was born January 1st. Evangelina is a devout Catholic, attends St. Mary's Catholic Church, and has even joined the Mom's group there. She has many job qualifications, such as a Personal Care Assistant Certificate and experience in bookkeeping. Happily, things are finally looking up for Evagelina. She has just found a part-time job with a great company where she is fortunate enough to be working with wonderful people. She is hoping there will be the potential for advancement within this company, so please pray that things work out well for her. Emily: Emily, originally from Sierra Leone, has had a difficult and sad life. She was abused, raped and ostracized by members of her own family, and after discovering she was pregnant for the third time, was pushed to have an abortion. Emily knew that she could never abort her child, so she turned to Mary's Shelter for help, refuge and encouragement. Originally, Emily was set upon placing her baby with adoptive parents. But as the months passed, Emily slowly changed her mind. Her baby, Jeremiah, joined his big brother and sister on Leap Day, February 29th. Things will not be easy for Emily. She has no regular employment, no family to help her, and no where else to live. Please pray that opportunities for employment and housing would come her way. Catherine: Baby Landon would most certainly not be here today if it weren't for Mary's Shelter (see picture above). Catherine is a repeat resident, something we have a policy about not doing. But in Catherine's case, we simply could not refuse. After leaving Mary's Shelter in December, 2010, Catherine struggled to make ends meet for her two kids. After what was pretty much a one-night stand, Catherine discovered she was pregnant again. This would be her 5th pregnancy, and having had an abortion before, she found herself seriously considering it again. She was about to get kicked out of the shelter where she was living, she was out of work, and the father of the baby was just another loser. She called Kathleen in despair. Eventually, Kathleen talked her into coming back to Mary's Shelter, although under stricter terms this time. At first, Catherine was convicted about placing this child with adoptive parents. But she eventually changed her mind. Baby Landon was born on February 21st. We hope you will pray that Catherine finds steady employment, a safe place to leave her kids during the day, and a change of heart about her faith and lifestyle choices. |
| Volunteer Corner: An Interview with Lisa Faleskie
Q: When did you first learn about Mary's Shelter?
A: It was during a mass at St. Matthew's in Spotsylvania. I was not a member of St. Matthew's. It was my first visit there so I didn't know anyone, and had never heard of Mary's Shelter. Two women brought Baby Moses to the front of the church and introduced him to the parish. I know now that one of the women was Kathleen Wilson from Mary's Shelter.
Q: What happened to you that day?
A: I was an adult convert to Catholicism, and never really thought about abortion the way a Catholic should. I felt sorry for women who had to have abortions, but didn't think it really affected me. It was somebody else's issue and their choice.
Q: Were there any changes to you personally after seeing Moses and hearing about the other babies?
A: Oh my, yes! For the first time I realized that my thinking was very wrong.
Q: In what other ways has this changed you?
A: To say the change was a complete turn-around in what I believed sounds almost impossible, but it is in fact what happened.
I didn't really understand that life begins at conception, but the moment I looked at smiling Baby Moses, I knew and understood. This is a life, a little person, who needs to be protected and saved. Not treated like a health problem to be "fixed". At that point, I knew I had to do whatever I could to save little babies like Baby Moses so my next step was getting to know Kathleen Wilson to find out how and what she needed.
Q: For many years, you and your husband, Tom, have been so generous to Mary's Shelter, both financially and materially as well as spiritually. What motivates you to continue doing so much?
A: Thank you for your kind words. I think the first and most important reason is I love and admire these women for the decisions they have made. And I love and admire the people of Mary's Shelter who give hundreds of hours of their lives to helping these women and babies.
The other reason, although Kathleen always laughs at me, is that I have no experience being a Mom and have never spent much time with kids so I am always telling her I don't have the right kinds of skills to volunteer like the other ladies I've met or read about. By doing these little things, it's a way I can help and also remain in the background, which is my preference.
Q: If you could say anything to our moms to give them encouragement, what would that be?
A: I am so very proud of you for the courage and strength it took to keep your babies and ask for and accept help and then agree to become part of the Mary's Shelter family and live according to the rules of the house. Hang in there and know that no matter where life leads, you are loved and you are never alone.
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| Summer Soirée Volunteers Needed!
We are beginning to plan our 2012 Summer Soirée and Fundraiser, and we could really use some help. Do you have a flair for decorating? Are you computer-saavy? Or do you just want to help a worthy cause? For more details, please get in touch with us at:
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| Thank You!
*Many belated thanks to Paul and Kristen Sowa for the beautiful Christmas breakfast basket that they have been sending for a couple of years now. Thanks for brightening up Christmas morning at Mary's Shelter! *Big thanks to Peggy Wickham for organizing the Valentine's Day Art Show and Silent Auction Benefit. We are so very appreciative of all the hard work you did to put it all together. Thanks for your dedication to Mary's Shelter! *Thanks once again to the UMW Students for Life for their amazing diaper drive. You have filled our storage room with diapers and our residents are extremely appreciative!*Thanks to the Bible Study group at Fairview at the River Club Church for their donation of 17 large bottles of laundry detergent. The ladies at the shelter are especially grateful since this is an item they must purchase themselves. *Thank you to Amy Whittaker for come to our Monday Night Madness Book Club and sharing your amazing book, "After Then and Now" with our residents. They really enjoyed the discussion and felt privileged to be in the presence of a real author! *Thanks as always to our Monday Night Madness babysitting volunteers - big shout-outs to Helen Rathgeb, Aisling Glocke, as well as the awesome group from the UMW Students for Life. *Thanks again to the Students for Life for honoring our director, Kathleen Wilson, with the Kortney Blythe Gordon Everyday Hero Award! And we can't think of anyone who deserves it more :) How about that picture of Kathleen with Governor Huckabee?!?    |
| The Rejuvenation of the "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign
We are very grateful to the wonderful volunteers, prayer warriors, and donors who are crucial to the survival of Mary's Shelter. With your ongoing support, we pray that this ministry will continue to foster a culture of life in our community for many years to come.
We hope you will consider supporting our"Fulfill the Promise" Campaign by becoming a monthly donor. With the help of our faithful benefactors, we really came a long way in 2011, but we still have many obstacles ahead of us. Our goal is to sign up 1000 people to give $20/month. We have almost reached 1/10 of our goal. Please help us by spreading the word!
If you would like to start giving to the "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign, please visit our website at www.marysshelterva.org, or send us an email at info@marysshelterva.org.
Thank you and may God Bless you!
Sincerely, The Directors and Staff of Mary's Shelter |
