DEFIANCE—The hard work of the pro-life movement—the grit, sweat, and toil—takes place right here at Our Lady’s Inn.
“We’re trying to undo what somebody else has done for who knows how many years,” said Gloria Lee, operations director for the maternity home.
Families live here for anywhere from five months to a year and are assigned a case worker for the time beyond their stay as staff strives to help “one mother, one baby, one family at a time.” In doing so they are ministered to by more than 30 churches from all types of denominations.
Volunteers come on a regular basis from the surrounding communities of St. Charles, Wentzville, Lake St. Louis, Defiance, New Melle, O’Fallon, Troy, and St. Peters.
“The hard thing emotionally, and the hard physical work, is the discipling once they’re here. It is continual, and everybody continues to work as a team,” said John Kelly, a member of First Baptist Church, Ellisville, who helps to financially support the maternity home. Kelly is a Christian businessman who sells and develops real estate, and manages a pension fund.
“Our biggest challenge right now is housing,” Lee said, noting that there are 13 families right now staying in a facility that is designed to hold a maximum of 14. “There’s just nothing out there in terms of programs or low-income housing. It’s hard (to place them).”
When a woman has an unplanned pregnancy, she often does not have the life skills or employment skills to provide for her baby. If she is a single mother, the problem is worse. That is where ministries like Our Lady’s Inn come in with a variety of programs and training opportunities that can offer hope that one day the mother can provide for herself and her baby on the outside. Hope is a huge key.
A tour of the facility reveals that a church presence in all areas of the maternity home is strong. People from all parts of suburban St. Louis have come to invest in this particular ministry, which breaks down to an average of 12-15 churches maintaining a weekly level of involvement. The overall Our Lady’s Inn ministry began in 1982 as an emergency residential shelter and features another location in downtown St. Louis as well.
“They come because they want to serve,” said Betsy Beauparlant, development and volunteer coordinator. “They want to fulfill a need to please God.”
The frequency of the church volunteers along with their consistent good work continues to make an impression on the women who stay there. Beauparlant said it contributes to an attitude where many of the mothers, perhaps up to 75 percent, now go to a church of their choice. Lee noted that she always tries to tell the residents that the volunteers don’t have to be at the maternity home.
“They’re doing this because they want to serve God and they want to help,” Lee said. “I’ve always said that the success of Our Lady’s Inn is the volunteers who exhibit the love of Christ. I think the ladies, they internalize that and know that.”
Along with the spiritual component, Our Lady’s Inn seeks to provide the means for mothers to keep their babies and succeed on their own, to the degree that is possible, economically.
“We really try to help clients know what the resources are in their communities,” Beauparlant said.