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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Home for expectant mothers hopes to save lives one mom at a time

by Jared Field of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 19, 2010

Jared Field | The Michigan Catholic Three of the founders of Mary's Mantle (from left) Fr. J.J. Mech, Bethany Collison and Lynn Coburn are pictured near a statue of the Blessed Mother at St. Anastasia Parish in Troy.

TROY – Beth Collison felt helpless to save a life that day.

Last spring an 18-year-old woman walked through the door of Collison's bookstore in Troy; she, it turned out, was pregnant and had nowhere to go. Collison, a member of St. Anastasia Parish in Troy, made numerous calls, searched high and low for help and found a precious little.

Not enough, as it turned out, to save a life.

"She left and the following week her friend came back in and said that she opted for an abortion," said Collison, owner of Faith @ Work Catholic Books. "It wasn't anything, after talking to her, that I felt she wanted to do. I think it was a decision she made strictly because she didn't have the resources and support that she needed. She really acted out of despair and fright."

These days Collison and a whole community of life advocates are acting out in joy and confidence to support mothers who don't know where to turn.

Mary's Mantle, a home for expectant mothers in Southfield, is the brainchild of Collison, who prayed for the strength to be able to intercede on behalf of mothers in similar predicaments.

As she prayed, she came across a quote from Mother Teresa: "Don't worry about the children across the ocean until you've helped the children across the street," she said. "I just knew that I was being called and that we were being called as a Catholic community to really engage these girls and to provide them with a safe haven."

After consulting with friends, family and founders of similar homes in other states, Collison was compelled to begin praying for a house – the first and biggest step.

"I started praying on a Saturday and got the call … on a Tuesday," said Collison.

The call was from Peggy O'Dea, a prominent life advocate in Metro Detroit. Peggy and her husband, Mike, offered their 2,500 square-foot home in Southfield in exchange for Mary's Mantle taking over what was left of the mortgage – $100,000.

"We just truly believed it was a sign from God to really walk this journey," said Collison, who hopes to have enough funds in place to open Mary's Mantle by the end of spring.

More than just a shelter
Throughout the process from brain to building, Mary's Mantle has been supported by many in the parish community of St. Anastasia. Fr. J.J. Mech, pastor of St. Anastasia, is passionate about the project and what it can do to serve mother and child.

"This will not just be a shelter," Fr. Mech said. "It will be a structured place. We're going to encourage the mothers, mold the mothers, in a positive way so they can be productive and not overwhelmed."

Mary's Mantle will have the capacity to serve up to four mothers, all 18 or older, and their babies for one year. In addition, there will be case workers in the home and the structure necessary to prepare the families for life after Mary's Mantle.

"The key thing is that they're going to be loved," Fr. Mech said. "We want them to feel totally supported. We're not just going to push them out.

"Our hope is, as a group, to be able to allow every parish to be able to do something…. It's a beautiful thing when people feel connected," he added.

Currently, in addition to raising funds, Mary's Mantle is seeking out a religious order to serve at the facility.

Fr. Mech hopes that everyone who hears about their mission sees it as an opportunity to save lives – and he's confident they will.

"I want each individual reading this to ask themselves, 'What am I called to do?'" Fr. Mech said. "I know this is going to happen. I know that the Holy Spirit is going to work in this."

Photo Courtesy of Mary's Mantle Members of the youth group from St. Anastasia Parish in Troy are pictured during a work day Mary's Mantle, a planned home for expectant mothers in Southfield.

'Built from the ground up'
Lynn Coburn, a Mary's Mantle board member, said she has been overwhelmed by the support of the community throughout the process.

"There's an incredible amount of networking and community-building … so what has happened, like I've never seen before, is this incredible swell of community support," said Coburn, a member of St. Irenaeus in Rochester Hills. "So, in some respects, it's being built from the ground up."

The project was undergirded by the work of volunteers such as Tom Murray, Collison's friend and fellow parishioner who works as an attorney with Dykema Gossett in Detroit.

Collison asked Murray to pray about what would eventually become Mary's Mantle and, at least at first, he was a bit leery of putting another iron in the fire.

He said he felt like he was praying for his will, and not His will, to be done. He, after all, was busy in his professional life and at home, with four children younger than the age of 8.

"It wasn't coincidence but divine providence," Murray admitted. "I knew I needed to go forward with it."

Murray's firm did the legal work for Mary's Mantle on a pro bono basis but, as he points out, his involvement is only one part of a much bigger picture.

"We had many people generously give from their hearts to move us forward," he said.