Building our Ministry: Learn, Share, and Get Involved
During Lent of 2025, Holy Comforter is completing a yearlong process of investigating and assessing resources for pregnant mothers in our community to better understand how to help them, fill gaps in resources and communicate meaningful support to expecting moms with unplanned pregnancies and/or great need in parenting and supporting young children. Linked here is a summary of what we have learned, and here is a link to our parish inventory of resources. Please send us your comments and ideas. We are especially interested in knowing what resources we may be missing that would be helpful to pregnant or parenting mothers in need and/or what gaps in resources you think need to be filled. Let us know if you have any interest in joining our ministry and especially in volunteering to support and be a guardian angel to a mother in need.
Our goal is to position our parish to be able to help guide moms in need to a wide range of helpful resources including:
- Housing, both short and long term.
- Friendship in a community of caring people, including mothers who have been through this journey.
- Healthcare.
- Education resources.
- Counseling.
- Material and financial support.
To learn more about the nationwide Walking with Moms in Need initiative, please visit www.walkingwithmoms.com.
Pregnant? Scared? In Crisis? We will walk with you.
If you are pregnant and worried about the future or in need of help or a friend—or if this sounds like someone you know or someone you would like to help—please read on. Once fully launched, our new ministry will help pregnant women and new moms find the support they need and share friendship through our Walking with Moms in Need ministry. Read below for immediate support.
Immediate Support: LifeSpring Pregnancy Centers
If you need immediate support, including limited medical care such as pregnancy or STI testing, ultrasound services, or if you want information, parenting education, adoption referrals or other support, we strongly recommend that any woman with an unplanned or crisis pregnancy book an appointment with LifeSpring Pregnancy Centers, a Christian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on the needs of pregnant women in the Albemarle, Buckingham, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, and Rappahannock Virginia communities. Call them for an appointment at (434) 979-4516.
Our call to serve: Why we walk with mothers in need
As Pope Francis reminds us, Catholic parishes should be “islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference.” Pope St. John Paul II identified the many challenges that expectant mothers may face, including lack of support from the father, financial strains, concerns about her own health or that of her child, and pressures from family and friends. An “unborn child is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying him or her in the womb.” For this reason, Pope Francis has recognized that it is particularly important that the Church come alongside mothers, offering them encouragement, assistance, and loving support and friendship.
In response, the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities has invited Catholics to walk in the shoes of local pregnant and parenting mothers in need. Through the USCCB’s Walking with Moms in Need initiative, parishes and dioceses are invited to join a nationwide effort to increase outreach and support to parenting women and women facing unplanned, difficult or crisis pregnancies.
For volunteers who are interested in a very special role, we hope to develop the opportunity to serve as a friend to a mother in need and to develop the role of a “Gabriel Angel” who will share love, companionship, advice and support with a woman on her journey to motherhood and into its early years. LifeSpring is looking for volunteers, and if you’d like to join their training and become our first Gabriel’s Angel, let Garrett know and he will help coordinate.
If you are interested in working in our ministry, want to learn more about our efforts, are seeking assistance, or would like to make a referral, please call Garrett Smith at (434) 960-7775 or email him at gsmith@garrettsmithlaw.com.
Prayer to the Blessed Mother
Whether you can help us or not, we ask for your prayers and invite you to join us as we pray:
