Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Celebrating an Amazing Year for Guiding Star Ministries!



Note: The following was taken from the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia's December Newsletter for Guiding Star Ministries and the Union's website.


What an incredible response to help the families at Guiding Star this year!  Five women and their children now call Guiding Star "home," and we are sprucing up the building to ready it for more incoming families.  Two more women and their children have participated in the program, but received housing and support in other locations, due to specific family needs.

This is all possible because of your great support.  We have had more than 150 volunteer hours donated, and $20,000 in donations and in-kind gifts in the last three months alone.

We are looking forward to this holiday season and hope your family will remember some of the families we serve in your prayers.  We look forward to an exciting new year of service ahead, and we wish you a very blessed holiday season!

Meet the Moms at Guiding Star

Mothers come to Guiding Star for help in all different ways, under different circumstances.  Some call the Pregnancy Hotline, or are referred from Catholic Social Services, or come through a church representative or friend.  While the situations vary, we strive to provide each woman in need with a safe home, counseling, and help while they prepare for their child. 
Jamie came to us through a church representative.  She was a few months pregnant and describes living in a dirty one room flat in the city, where the electricity only worked sometimes.  "I remember thinking, I have to do something," Jamie says now.  "I couldn't bring the baby there."  Jamie welcomed her sweet baby boy over the summer.  
Aimee called the Pregnancy Hotline a year ago, the week before Christmas.  She was married, but her husband had left, leaving her alone and scared about what to do next.  She needed a place to live, her herself, her mother, and her unborn child.   We were able to place her in an apartment with the help of a parish and generous contributors. She welcome her son this summer too, and felt a warm welcome during her journey from that parish.  Her baby was baptized, and this spring, Aimee and her mother will be as well.  
Our mission is to provide shelter to pregnant women and their children so that they may have a successful, healthy pregnancy, while creating a home that is structured, nurturing, and supportive Mothers work toward educational and vocational goals during their time at Guiding Star, and strive to build lasting relationships with the families who join our program.

Guiding Star Ministries have two upcoming events which are listed below.
Knights for Life Dinner
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Trenton Country Club - Trenton, NJ 
The Knights of Columbus, Fr. McCafferty Council #11013, invites you for the return of this auction and dinner, benefiting the Pro-Life Union and Guiding Star Ministries. Join us for dinner, open bar until 8:00 p.m., and silent and live auctions. Use this link to register for this event and purchase tickets.    
Save the Date! -Saturday, February 27, 2016
Annual Blaney Family Fundraiser
 
More information on this event will be posted here as we receive it. 

Your gift to Guiding Star Ministries fills a very specific need: providing safe housing for women vulnerable to abortion, and their children. We invite you to learn more about this maternity home and ministry, and other homes we fund in the region, by coming for a visit, volunteering at a Saturday Works service event, or mentoring a family on the journey.

 To  make a donation to help Guiding Star Ministries, please use this link.  

The Pro-Life Union is committed to providing alternatives for women and families vulnerable to abortion. Guiding Star is a home for pregnant women and their children, and through this ministry women and families receive safe temporary housing, basic supplies, job, life, and parenting skills, and emotional and community support. Lives are saved and changed because this continuum of care is available, and Guiding Star Ministries is the only home in Philadelphia for both mothers and their children. We invite you to join us in this very special ministry.   

To learn more on the Pro-Life Union, please use this link.  



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