A Fulton nonprofit would like to expand, but could use help from the community.
Faith Maternity Care of Mid-Missouri is reaching out to donors and volunteers they’ve never pursued.
An Alternatives 2 Abortion (A2A)-funded organization, Faith Maternity must spend its dollars on financially supporting women who are pregnant or 12 months past delivery with goals of education or a job.
Its successful efforts have made Director Shelley Knight a “firm believer in networking,” she said.
Knight has heard stories about her organization’s impact.
In one such tale, during a fundraising drive, an excited child on Sunday awoke early to wait for his family to see him sitting in their recliner holding a baby bottle full of coins. When asked what he was doing, he responded, “I’m here to save the babies.”
Passion like that of the boys helps fuel Knight.
“Breaking the cycle of poverty, two generations at a time, one woman at a time” is where the money raised goes, according to Knight.
The money that comes from the baby bottle drive (when church families fill baby bottles with cash between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day), the A2A funding and the miscellaneous community grants and donations all goes toward saving babies and their mothers, who have chosen to bring them into the world.
“All women we work with are at the poverty level,” said Knight.
Even larger entities give their resources.
One mattress and recliner store “gifted us six new mattresses for residents (of a Faith Maternity women’s home),” Knight said. All she did was “appeal to them and ask.”
Mindspace Wellness Counseling, a health care provider based in Kansas City, supports Faith Maternity by being their behavioral health resource.
“We require psychological evaluation within the first 30 days they’re in the home,” Knight said, as a means to ensure the safety of the home’s residents.
The Faith Maternity residence home and its community resource (case manager) provide services only to pregnant and up-to-12-months-post-delivery mothers and their children (limited to three children).
Mothers are required to pursue educations or jobs, and to set goals with the case manager.
Women in the home are required to build relationships and life skills, in part by cooking a nutritious meal once a week for all house residents.
Faith Maternity helps meet some “material needs” for residents, Knight said. Whether residents need help repairing or replacing a flat tire, require clothing for interviews, or wish for blankets, Faith Maternity may use its A2A funds.
Women whom Faith Maternity services, but who already “have a safe place to live,” may need help with case management, according to Knight.
Basically, “all the milestones they need to meet to live independently” is what Faith Maternity helps young mothers achieve, she said.
Case managers can help clients find documentation they need for work, or to set them up in a program in which they can earn a high school diploma, according Knight. All women in the program have case managers, whether in the women’s home or not.
If Faith Maternity had its way, it would like to implement a transitional program. However, that does not qualify for A2A funding.
“(Transitional programs are) what happens when they leave the house. Some may have a duplex… funded through the program and they may pay partial rent while going through college or a certification. We don’t have enough funding but we’re on that trajectory,” Knight said.
A new board within Faith Maternity is developing plans for a transition program, Knight said.
The board members specialize in ways that may help the new program overcome hurdles.
One has expertise in finances, one has experience with education, one is connected at the State Capitol and another is a health care provider, Knight said.
People wishing to help the organization achieve its goals should go to its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FaithMaternityCare or email Knight at [email protected]
Anything from gardening fresh food, to building bunk beds, to knowing how to give a class on car maintenance is appreciated, according to Knight.