Washington D.C., May 27, 2021 / 17:01 pm
A Missouri crisis maternity home run by Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri recently celebrated the birth of the 100th baby for its formerly homeless clients.
LifeHouse Crisis Maternity Home serves vulnerable homeless pregnant women and their children under the age of five. The home provides transitional housing for the women, who stay up to a year after giving birth while receiving the support they need to eventually move out on their own.
“We established the Lifehouse program to provide homeless pregnant women with comprehensive services that leads to healthy babies and healthy moms, and breaks the cycle of generational poverty by providing opportunities for a brighter future,” Maura Taylor, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, told CNA.
Located in Springfield, Missouri, the program launched in 2010 and the current home opened in 2013, on the site of a former Carmelite monastery. All of the women at the home have suffered trauma, with many of them human trafficking survivors. Most have had substance abuse problems.