As part of its parish Respect Life efforts, St. Catherine on Center Street uses an old cradle set up year-round to collect baby items for a pregnancy help center. (Submitted photo)
Sometimes, the way to most effectively advocate for the life of the unborn is to love and support the mother.
Many parishes in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee are actively accompanying pregnant mothers through a variety of efforts, all to empower a pregnant woman with enough support that she can choose life for her child.
“There’s always someone there supporting them with things they need,” said Judy Ballard of Friends for Life, a multi-parish collaboration on Milwaukee’s north side.
That group includes St. Catherine Parish on Center Street in the Uptown neighborhood of Milwaukee’s North Side, along with St. Sebastian Parish on Washington Boulevard in Washington Heights on the West Side.
This partnership comes from the Walking With Moms in Need initiative that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops set in motion during 2019.
Collectively, their work helps Care Net Milwaukee, the Women’s Care Center and Women’s Support Center — pregnancy support organizations active in many areas of the city.
St. Catherine and St. Sebastian also join a plethora of other parishes such as the Basilica of St. Josephat on Milwaukee’s South Side in event-driven initiatives that support the pregnancy support organizations.
“A lot of our purpose is to help them out, and it kind of is exciting to hear of what they do behind the scenes,” said Patti Schumacher with St. Josaphat’s Respect Life Ministry. “They’re kind of on the front lines, and they’re up front with the moms and the babies and the families that they serve.”
At the same time, these motherly support centers recognize how critical parish efforts are to their mission, and how God speaks to these women through their behind-the-scenes work to fuel these women’s health ministries.
“I can say as a whole that we absolutely couldn’t do it without all the donations that we receive from the parishes,” said Beth Schumaker, Director of Outreach at the Women’s Support Center near the Marquette University campus. “They are very instrumental in our work, very much so.”
Those centers are seeing how parishes fortify the supply rooms that give pregnant women the day-to-day resources they need, such as financial help, clothing, diapers and many other kinds of baby items.
“I definitely in four years have seen an uptick in parishes coming to the table to donate all of those things,” Schumaker said. “This really helps facilitate our center in our baby store. The women come in for counseling and then they get to go shopping in the baby store.”
The support these parishes give run the gamut, far beyond baby items, because the needs of pregnant women in crisis situations vary — but each involves overcoming the kind of economic or social roadblocks that may lead to abortion.
“We have a cradle that’s set up in the back of the church, which is ongoing,” said Trudy Ranallo of St. Catherine, who works closely with Ballard. “Parishioners can put in what others would need — anything from diapers, diaper wipes, blankets, pacifiers, hats, blankets.”
But it’s not just material needs that are served.
“Women that have been coming for years, and they really have told us they find peace there, and they are so grateful that they can just talk. They just want to share their story,” Schumaker said.
“They don’t have that best friend. They don’t have those friendships that we are familiar with where we can go to someone and share our deepest concerns, worries and joys. They don’t have that. They live very fragmented lives, and when they come to our center, they do encounter that place where they can really share. Not all of them do, but many of them do. They appreciate that they can share their lives. It’s just like a respite from their life.”
Other times, it’s financial support or opportunities that are key.
“There are communities that will help in providing financial support for moms if they need a home, a car, gas money or whatever it might be to get jobs, or even helping them find jobs. St. Sebastian’s has a fund through human concerns and we’re also giving funds to these different pregnancy health centers, so there’s some help,” Ballard said.
Which is why parish-level organizers are putting the word out to get more help, more donations, more volunteers, more treasure to fuel the centers — and the women who find support for bringing their baby into the world.
For more information on Walking With Moms in Need, go to archmil.org/Walking-With-Moms-in-Need.
