By Ashley Dooley Wohlgemuth
Our Mom’s Empowerment Program helps with emergency assistance, pre-natal care, maternity clothes and baby supplies. We can even walk with a mother up to a year after her baby is born.
The new dad hit send on his phone, simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief. It had been a long journey to get to this place, starting with the loss of his job for taking too much time off to help his pregnant wife get to and from doctor appointments. Not long before that, his wife had also lost her job, as the educational center where she worked closed unexpectedly. The stress of it all had put mom on bed rest for the bulk of her pregnancy. There was no insurance, no way to pay for diapers or food. Needless to say, the couple was terrified.
Eventually, they heard about our Mom’s Empowerment program through a family friend and were relieved to find that a case manager would be able to assist in a myriad of ways, including, pre-natal care, transportation to and from doctor appointments, maternity clothes, and baby supplies such as diapers and formula.
In this instance, the case manager also helped the budding family develop a plan and guided them through stressful financial situations. The stress of the mother could also be felt by the baby, which the case manager knew could impact the baby’s growth, brain development, and immune system if not quickly mitigated. (https://www.marchofdimes.org/pregnancy/stress-and-pregnancy.aspx)
To ease the mother’s stress and provide financial breathing room, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph paid their electric bill for the month, helped with gasoline to get to and from doctor’s appointments, and aided in the couple’s job search. Within weeks, the mother found a job allowing her to work from home and the father was hired at the local law enforcement office.
This amazing story is just one among many from the 325 families we served in 2018. Our case managers have servant hearts and naturally try to help every client find success through monthly case management, goal planning, and emergency assistance, often staying with expectant families up to one-year post delivery.
In the words of our case manager Barb Patrick, “Success stories come when people believe in people. Everyone goes through storms. It’s the time we take to listen, understand, and show empathy during life’s scary and uncertain moments that makes the difference.”
