A Place Becomes A Home
I met Leah Marie while several of us were editing our new brochure for New Beginnings.
Leah is from Minneapolis. Her parents were divorced when she was three. Her mother moved to California when Leah was 17. She and her brothers lived in a house owned by her dad who is in the Air Force and lives in Wisconsin. When her dad sold the house, Leah moved in with her paternal grandparents. Leah had a position with a Daycare Center where she learned to love and care for children.
When she told her dad she was pregnant, he said, "Now what'll you do?" Later she told her grandparents, "My boyfriend and I are pregnant." Her grandmother cried. Her grandfather said she would have to come to terms with her condition. She had two more weeks if she chose abortion. Leah told me during this time she was anxious, happy, sad, confused. She decided to go full term with her baby.
I asked her how she got to New Beginnings. She said her dad brought her to St. Cloud. She felt her dad's tension and her own as she read the brochure her dad gave her to read on the way. Leah said she knew her father only wanted her to be in a safe environment. Leah was nervous and scared because she knew nothing about New Beginnings until she read the brochure.
Upon her arrival at New Beginnings, Leah felt welcomed even though she did not know the people who greeted her. She was shown her room and one of the residents helped her unpack as she talked with Leah about New Beginnings. It helped Leah to understand what was happening to her. Leah told me, "New Beginnings, after a few weeks, has become a home, not just a place."
At New Beginnings she has learned to know herself, has a professional off-campus counselor to help her work through some issues, has a mentor, a coach who goes to birthing classes with her, and with her boyfriend, has decided on the names Kayla Annemarie or Austin Michael. She has known her boyfriend for four years. He now has a good job and he and Leah are looking to marriage and family life in a year or so.
For Leah, as she looks forward to the birth of her child in a few weeks, New Beginnings has indeed become more than a place. It is a home where she knows she and her baby are cared for and loved.
Leah is from Minneapolis. Her parents were divorced when she was three. Her mother moved to California when Leah was 17. She and her brothers lived in a house owned by her dad who is in the Air Force and lives in Wisconsin. When her dad sold the house, Leah moved in with her paternal grandparents. Leah had a position with a Daycare Center where she learned to love and care for children.
When she told her dad she was pregnant, he said, "Now what'll you do?" Later she told her grandparents, "My boyfriend and I are pregnant." Her grandmother cried. Her grandfather said she would have to come to terms with her condition. She had two more weeks if she chose abortion. Leah told me during this time she was anxious, happy, sad, confused. She decided to go full term with her baby.
I asked her how she got to New Beginnings. She said her dad brought her to St. Cloud. She felt her dad's tension and her own as she read the brochure her dad gave her to read on the way. Leah said she knew her father only wanted her to be in a safe environment. Leah was nervous and scared because she knew nothing about New Beginnings until she read the brochure.
Upon her arrival at New Beginnings, Leah felt welcomed even though she did not know the people who greeted her. She was shown her room and one of the residents helped her unpack as she talked with Leah about New Beginnings. It helped Leah to understand what was happening to her. Leah told me, "New Beginnings, after a few weeks, has become a home, not just a place."
At New Beginnings she has learned to know herself, has a professional off-campus counselor to help her work through some issues, has a mentor, a coach who goes to birthing classes with her, and with her boyfriend, has decided on the names Kayla Annemarie or Austin Michael. She has known her boyfriend for four years. He now has a good job and he and Leah are looking to marriage and family life in a year or so.
For Leah, as she looks forward to the birth of her child in a few weeks, New Beginnings has indeed become more than a place. It is a home where she knows she and her baby are cared for and loved.
Sister Andre' Marthaler, OSB
Development Committee Member