Monica's Letter to You
This is a letter to all of you from our most recent resident, Monica. Please read her beautifully written note:
I would like to personally thank all of you who are
providing a warm shelter for myself and my three small children. I have
never known people to be so kind and concerned, to take their hard-earned
money and see to it that other peoples' families have a safe, warm, comfortable, stable environment to
regain financial, mental and physical stability.
God has blessed me in so many ways, I could not name them. But my most recent blessing, aside from waking up with my children this morning, is being
adopted by such a wonderful community as yours. Mary's Shelter is so much more than
a shelter, it's our home, whether temporary or not. I can hardly express
in words my gratitude. Just when I thought I had no where to turn or
anyone to turn to, your most gracious community provided me with compassion and
caring. Faith is something that I never lost, but through your blessings
my faith is even stronger. I am positive that years from now, when my children
(ages 5, 2, 1 and baby who will be here soon) look back at all that you have
provided for us, they will be even more thankful and grateful and follow in
God's footsteps and "Help thy neighbor." Today, though they are
young, I read and explained that meaningful scripture to my children. We
appreciate, thank and love you all.
Sincerely, Our Little family
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Please visit Fiberfads! for beautiful hand-knit and felted items. All proceeds are donated to Mary's Shelter!
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For unique, hand-crafted rosaries, please visit:Beads for Mary 40-50% of your purchase will benefit Mary's Shelter
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Want more information about Mary's Shelter? Please visit our website:
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Mary's Shelter May Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 5
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Greetings!
We have had another month of
blessings at Mary's Shelter. We welcomed home two beautiful babies, a new mother
and her children have joined us, one mother has found employment, and two of our hard-working ladies will be walking in caps and
gowns next week after passing the GED. These are some of the goals we pray each of our moms will
reach while staying at Mary's Shelter. Thank you for all the support and
prayers necessary for our ladies to take the next step in their lives. We are thankful for the love and
encouragement shown to all our Mary's Shelter families.
God Bless.
Kathleen Wilson, Director
We want to create hope for the person...we must give hope, always hope.
-Mother Teresa
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SAVE THE
DATE
Friday, August 13th, 2010
7-10 pm
Summer
Soir�e Fundraiser
in support of
Mary's
Shelter,
homes for women facing a
crisis pregnancy
Guest
Speaker - Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney
General of Virginia
Master of Ceremonies -
David Bereit, National Director of 40
Days for Life
Venue graciously
provided by St. Michael the Archangel High School, Fredericksburg, VA
Please contact [email protected] or call 540 623 5778 for
more information.
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Proudly Introducing
Baby K, born 4/21/10
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Resident Profiles
The following are profiles of some of our current residents. All names are fictitious.
MONICA: We welcome Monica and her three beautiful little girls to our home. Monica came to us from the homeless shelter where she and her girls were sharing a tiny room with another resident. Monica was grateful to be there, however, since she had fled from an abusive relationship. Mary's Shelter has been a true answer to prayer for her. She is so grateful that she and her girls have a room to themselves in our beautiful shelter. Please read her beautiful letter of thanksgiving at the top of the page.
BERNADETTE: Bernadette began working again after 6 weeks of maternity leave. Isabel is babysitting baby Kullin until her own baby arrives in July.
ISABEL: Isabel studied hard the past couple of months. She was determined to pass the GED, and was particularly worried about the math portion. At 33, Isabel is our oldest resident, and it has been a long time since Algebra class. She studied for 4-6 hours everyday. Our math-minded residents and housemother tutored her. Her dedicated volunteer, Laura Trail, spent hours explaining math problems to her. So on the big day, we were all rooting for her. Imagine her joy (and ours!) when she found out that she passed! We rejoice with Isabel that she is one step closer to taking the real estate exam and securing a living for herself and her unborn baby. CATHERINE: Catherine has had a very rough and scary time since the birth of Baby K. Just as she was being released from the hospital after her c-section, she suffered two seizures. She was readmitted to the hospital for a few days, and even though her baby could not remain in the room with her, she insisted that they bring the baby to her to nurse. Her volunteer Christina really encouraged her to nurse this baby, her third, and she has been very dedicated. One month after that seizure episode and despite daily seizure medication, she suffered another one, this time in Kathleen's car. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital, and she was released a few hours later. On the way home, she seized again, this time in our housemother's car. She was rushed to the hospital for the second time that day, and this time they kept her for two days. During those two days, our residents and staff made a heroic effort to care for Catherine's newborn daughter and 5 yr. old son. She is home now, much to everyone's relief, and we pray that her days of seizing have come to an end! FELICITY: Felicity is one of those stories that we tell with a heavy heart. It is with great sadness that we report Felicity's departure from our homes. We all liked Felicity, and she never caused any problems at all. She was great at crocheting, dedicated to her GED classes, and kind to the other residents. We were surprised when she decided to leave just days after giving birth to her son. We were disappointed to learn that she plans to live with the baby's father, who has treated her horribly and has shown no signs of change. We don't expect this situation to last long, and unfortunately, expect Felicity to be homeless again in a few months. Such rash decisions are really heart-breaking to those of us who have put so much time and energy into the ladies and the program. What we need to remember is that many of our ladies make poor decisions, always have, and will likely continue to do so. But the one, and perhaps only, good decision they have made is to give life to their unborn child. This remains the heart of our mission, and so we rejoice in the birth of Felicity's baby Jonathan and pray that his guardian angel will keep an eye on him in the difficult years to come.
In addition to the moms you have read about, Mary's Shelter
provides homes to other mothers and children.
Please keep them ALL in your prayers.
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An Interview with Christina Banks
Christina worked as a Catholic
school teacher for six years until she became a stay-at-home
mom. She is married to Jeffrey and has three children.
Q: What do your volunteer duties involve?
I am a mentor to one of the mothers. I offer any
assistance that is helpful to her: driving her to appointments, helping her
with her resume, teaching her how to breastfeed, etc... I had the honor of
assisting her through her c-section and being with the baby in the nursery
while she was in the recovery room.
Q: How did you first get involved with Mary's Shelter and begin volunteering?
I asked
to be on the volunteer e-mail list 2 years ago. This year I was finally
able to step in and become a mentor.
Q: As a mother of 3 young children, how do you find time to volunteer?
I drive
my oldest to school every day, so I'm already out and able to go on errands
when necessary. I will take a break after I'm done mentoring with this
mom, but I'm very glad I volunteered. It has given my children a lesson
in gratitude.
Q: What is the best part of volunteering at Mary's Shelter? What have you learned from your volunteer experience?
The best
part is knowing that I've answered God's call. I've learned how to become
a good mentor Q: What would you recommend for others who want to get more involved in Mary's Shelter through volunteer work?
I recommend finding an opportunity that matches
your time and talents. If you don't have the time to be a mentor, there
are other opportunities.
Q: What is the best thing about Mary's Shelter?
The best thing about Mary's Shelter is that it
follows Jesus' command to help those in need, particularly Matthew 25: 35-36;
40 "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed
me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me....And the king will
say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these
least brothers of mine, you did for me.' "
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The Mary's Shelter Cookbook Project
If you haven't submitted your recipe to Tanya for the Mary's Shelter cookbook, it is not too late! Please email Tanya Guthrie at
Please submit your recipes soon! Even our Mary's Shelter ladies are submitting recipes. If they can do it, you can too!
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Thank You!
*Thanks to Tibor Baksy, a financial planner with Baksy and Associates, for coming to speak to our ladies as part of our Saturday Night Speaker Series. Tibor brought each lady a user-friendly book about financial planning, and has offered to counsel our ladies on an individual basis. We are touched by your generosity, and have already seen the fruits of your expertise with one of our residents. Thank you very much!
*Thank you to Rachel Schamel for leading our cooking class this month. Rachel taught the ladies how to make Honey-Curry Chicken with brown rice and broccoli. They were very impressed and are anxious to have you back!
*Thanks to Lori Fowlkes, as always, for two baby photo shoots, one just two days before Lori had her own baby! Congratulations on the arrival of baby #5, Zachary Glen Sixtus!
*Thanks to Regina Hiney for the monthly book club meetings! Since we have been meeting with Regina for almost a year, she thinks the ladies are ready for more of a challenge. Wish them luck as they embark upon "The Great Gatsby"!
*Thank you to the youth of St. Francis of Assisi
Parish in Triangle for all the donations of clothes, diapers, soaps,
shampoos, and so much more! Kathleen's huge van was packed!
*Thank you to St. Michael the Archangel High School for
the recent baby shower and especially for generously allowing us to use their space for
our Summer Soir�e Fundraiser.
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A Final Thank You
We are very grateful to the wonderful volunteers, prayer warriors, and donors who are crucial to the survival of Mary's Shelter. Through 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 continuing praying for the success of our "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign. Please help us by spreading word!
For more information about our "Fulfill the Promise" Campaign, please visit our website at www.marysshelterva.org, or simply press the button below.
Thank you and may God Bless you!
Sincerely, The Directors and Staff of Mary's Shelter
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