The dream of Mommies Matter lived in the heart of its founding director, Monica Flynn, for nearly two decades before its official inception.
Countless hours spent answering calls on a crisis pregnancy hotline led to an unshakeable conviction that although the pro-life community did much to provide women with options at the time of an unplanned pregnancy, it offered few opportunities for extensive accompaniment and mentorship to single mothers once they had made the brave choice for life and against abortion.
Mommies Matter was founded on the fact that 75% of women who chose abortion say they would have chosen life for their unborn child if they had been offered support and a community to walk with them during and after the pregnancy. Three out of four pregnant mothers choose abortion because they feel they cannot take on motherhood alone. And they are right – they cannot do it alone.
Single motherhood is not easy. In one week, Mommies Matter walked alongside mothers who:
• Lost jobs due to car issues.
• Could not find affordable child care to go back to work full-time.
• Became homeless because of an injury that prevents them from working.
• Are suffering through domestic violence.
“Doing life together” is the mantra of Mommies Matter. When a single, pregnant mother comes to Mommies Matter, she is invited to join a community that will help her navigate challenges while embracing her dignity and value as a woman. But what does doing life together look like?
Recently, the Mommies Matter family has shown up to “do life” with mothers in the following ways:
• Paying rent during unpaid maternity leave to stabilize the financial picture so that a mother could bond with her baby.
• Providing support during labor and delivery.
• Driving downtown with a mother to submit paperwork to seal an eviction and request child support.
• Caring for a mother’s children so she could attend a job interview.
• Driving a mother’s older children to school because her car wouldn’t start.
• Coordinating the donation of a car to a mother and encouraging and supporting her to put her goals in motion.
• Sending a gift card for food to a new mother of twins.
• Providing two weeks of gas cards because a mother missed work and therefore pay because she contracted COVID.
• Reviewing several mothers’ finances and determining next steps to stabilize their situations and move toward financial goals.
Mommies Matter provides the financial, emotional and spiritual support every pregnant mother needs, for as long as she needs, to choose life and support herself and her child/children. This is done through in-person monthly enrichment nights, life coaching, legal assistance, respite care, long-term goal planning, therapy with trusted partners and more.
Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the pro-life community has recognized the need to walk with single, pregnant mothers, offering the support necessary so they can be the mothers our Lord created them to be. It is up to us as individuals and a Church to respond by “doing life” with these single, pregnant mothers.
This can include hosting a baby shower for a single, expectant mother; becoming an ally and walking with a mother through the challenges of single motherhood; providing a meal or child care at our monthly enrichment night gatherings so that the mothers can recharge and connect with other single moms; providing a meal for the mother and her children after birth of their new sibling; or working as a community liaison to communicate the needs of Mommies Matter to your church community.
Together, we can be the catalyst for the healing, hope and change our mothers and babies need. Mothers facing an unwanted pregnancy, and their babies, deserve nothing less.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 5:30 p.m., Mommies Matter will host its annual Fall Fundraiser at Columbus St. Catharine Church. The event will include food, beverages, comedy and a silent auction in support of single motherhood.
To purchase tickets or to learn more about becoming involved with Mommies Matter, visit mommiesmatter.org or call 614-723-9308.