Pro-Life Ministries Impacted by Harvey are Still Working to Help Moms in Need

“Once the nine pregnant women, as well as LifeHouse staff members—one of whom had to be rescued from a rooftop—were safe and sound, Phillips turned her attention to reaching out to expectant moms scattered throughout area shelters."

Joy House Volunteers Help Clean Up After Harvey

By Carole Novielli
Live Action News

Hurricane Harvey, a category four storm which dumped several feet of rain on a massive area of Southeast Texas as well as parts of Louisiana, impacted all aspects of society, from families to businesses to ministries. 

Among those affected are pregnancy help centers and maternity homes. But even amidst the tears and sorrow, there are some amazing stories of hope from within the pro-life community on the ground in the impacted flood area.

As the news coverage shows the overwhelming cleanup and recovery efforts, pro-life groups are reaching out in their communities to help others, despite being victims as well.

In North Houston, JoyHouse, which shelters pregnant women in crisis – including those who are victims of sex trafficking – is rebuilding after water ravaged their building.

Flooded room of JoyHouse after Hurricane Harvey

Founder Eva Joy told Live Action News that she started the ministry in 2009 after experiencing an abortion at the age of 16. “If someone would have been there to help when I was 16, I may have chosen life for my child,” she said.

JoyHouse shelters both pregnant moms along with children. Eva says JoyHouse wants to “make it just as easy for women to choose life as it is to choose abortion.”

As Harvey bore down on Houston, Eva said the ministry was forced to relocate the women to the homes of many of their volunteers. When they returned, they found that the water had flooded most of their building’s first story. Despite these losses, Eva was full of joy as she spoke with Live Action News.

JoyHouse is one of many ministries that operate under Compassion United in the North Houston area. Luke Redus, CU’s founder, told Live Action News that his group regularly ministers to the homeless in the area and is continuing to reach out to the homeless since the hurricane.

“They lost their home so-to-speak, we are continuing to reach out to them,” he said.

Eva Joy and Luke Redus Operate JoyHouse

Live Action News continues

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Miracle Little Girl Survived Hurricane Harvey By Clinging to Her Dead Mother

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

A very young Texas girl was saved from the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey on Tuesday as she clung to her dead mother’s body.

Many are describing the 3-year-old girl’s survival as a miracle. Newsmax reports the little girl is doing well at a local hospital near Beaumont, Texas; but her mother, who also was taken to the hospital after the rescue, was declared dead shortly after their arrival.

Beaumont Police said the mother “absolutely saved the child’s life” by carrying her through the floodwaters.

On Tuesday afternoon, police said they learned that a mother and her young child were stuck in high water in a parking lot after the mother parked her vehicle there, hoping to escape the rising flood.

“The vehicle got stuck and the mother exited the car with the child,” according to the local police. “At some point she was swept into the canal.”

A team of police officers and fire rescue divers found the woman and little girl about half a mile away from their vehicle, according to the report. They said the baby girl was clinging to her mother’s body as the water pushed them toward a flooded trestle.

“The baby also had a backpack that was helping her float on her back and she was holding onto her mom,” police spokeswoman Carol Riley told People. “The mother did the best she could to keep her child up over the water.”

The rescue team managed to pull the mother and child out of the water just before they went under the trestle, according to the report.

“Water was up to the trestle and first responders would not have been able to save the child if they had floated under it,” police said.

Police said the team performed CPR as they took the mother and child to the hospital, but the mother remained unresponsive. The little girl was suffering from hypothermia, according to police.

Authorities expect that the little girl will be well enough to be released to relatives soon. They have not yet released her name or that of her late mother.

Website: Life News

Pro-Life Women and Groups are Visiting Shelters Throughout Houston to Serve Young Mothers Displaced by Tropical Storm Harvey

By Jay Hobbs
National Right to Life

For the first time since Harvey made landfall in Houston last weekend, Meredith Phillips was able to take the time to enjoy a hot meal Thursday afternoon.

Coming on the heels of several days’ worth of adrenaline, and with weeks and months ahead of her to process the impact of the storm, it was a well-earned—if too brief—respite for Phillips, a Houston resident who helps operate a Christian housing ministry for pregnant moms called LifeHouse.

As the storm approached late last week, Phillips and her team had to evacuate their program’s residents from one of its three locations, relocating the expectant mothers away from the rising water.

Once the nine pregnant women, as well as LifeHouse staff members—one of whom had to be rescued from a rooftop—were safe and sound, Phillips turned her attention to reaching out to expectant moms scattered throughout area shelters.

Bringing Help to the Shelters

Her first stop was nearby Lakewood Church, which was maligned along with its pastor, Joel Osteen, earlier in the week when local residents accused the megachurch of refusing to take in residents displaced by the storm. That wasn’t the case by the time Phillips arrived to help Wednesday morning, however, as Lakewood was bustling with activity.

“They had created a shelter on one floor and were offering services on another floor,” Phillips said. “There were so many volunteers that came, they were turning away volunteers, but I came in because I wanted to offer LifeHouse as a resource to any displaced pregnant women.”

Introducing herself to a volunteer who was overseeing the medical station at Lakewood, Phillips told him what she was there to do, and in return, he asked her to stay and work the rest of the day.

By the end of the day Wednesday, Phillips had talked at length with five expectant mothers who had lost their homes and had nowhere to go. She was able to immediately place one of the women in LifeHouse, which has the capacity for as many as 18 moms at a time, while the team helped connect 10 more women to vital resources within the community.

“We really worry about that pregnant woman who has been in this kind of stress,” Phillips said. “We want to be able to give her an environment where she can rest physically and emotionally and be able to nurture the baby who is growing inside of her.”

One of the women Phillips met Wednesday is due this November with twins. She had just moved to Houston from Alabama to take a teaching position when the storm hit, washing away everything she had packed in the move.

With the woman’s family still in Alabama, Phillips was able to get her out of the shelter at Lakewood and into a bed at LifeHouse on Wednesday night.

“For someone who’s never been through the floods of Houston, and on top of that, one of the largest floods in history, then you add that she’s away from her family and pregnant with twins—that’s a lot,” Phillips said.

National Right to Life continues