Agency celebrating 30 years of helping parents and babies

The Catholic Charities agency met Apryl, a young Hispanic woman, when she was 16 and three months pregnant with her first child. She was referred to CMS' residential program by the police after the home where she lived with extended family was raided for drug trafficking.

Apryl adapted well to living at CMS' Maternity Center and was placed in a foster home, where she gave birth to a baby girl. Unfortunately, the foster-care placement didn't work out, so she decided to live with family in Brooklyn. She eventually moved in with her baby's father and began attending college. She now plans to become a pharmacist and still keeps in touch with CMS staff, crediting the agency's nurse as her inspiration to enter the medical field.

Caring works

"Our agency really is seen as the pro-life ministry of the Catholic Charities system in the Diocese of Albany," stated Sister Mary Ann LoGiudice, RSM, executive director.

That ministry has changed over the past three decades. When CMS was created in 1971, its sole outlet was one maternity residence where young mothers awaited the birth of their children. Many, said Sister Mary Ann, were middle-class teens who stayed at CMS to keep their pregnancies a secret.

"Early on, half the girls kept their babies and half made an adoption plan," she remembered. "Now, we serve mostly young women who have not had good nurturing themselves, who've grown up in the foster care system. It's a very different population in terms of needs and program design."

Adoptions

"A really young girl makes an adoption plan only if she sees no other option," Sister Mary Ann remarked. "Those who do make adoption plans are older adolescents or in their early 20s. Many [clients] keep their babies because they don't have anyone else in their life and think, here's someone who's going to love them unconditionally."

Adoptions have also become much more open, a huge change for CMS. While the agency once got only non-identifying information from birth and adoptive parents to help in choosing an adoptive home, today's adoptive parents may accompany a birth mother to doctor's appointments and even be present in the delivery room.

"Many of the young women we work with haven't had anyone in their lives they could trust," Sister Mary Ann explained. That population, she said, wasn't comfortable with a CMS employee simply saying, "We promise your baby will go to a good home."

Long-term help

Now, CMS takes in teens early in their pregnancies, since many are referred by other residential programs where they can no longer stay when they're pregnant.

Not only do the young mothers stay in CMS residences like the Maternity Center and the Heery Center for Young Families in Albany throughout their pregnancies, but they're trained in the independent living and parenting skills they lack.

Independence

Sister Mary Ann noted that the house is not always in use, because many teen parents aren't yet responsible enough to live on their own. In the future, she hopes enough funding is available to rent several apartments in a complex where a CMS staffer can live on-site, providing more close supervision.

"It would be nice to have that intermediary step," she remarked. "We're still exploring it."

Abstinence

CMS' current abstinence programs include "Worth Waiting For," which offers seminars on adolescence, groups for parents and teens, and crisis support; Family Life Education, which offers presentations on human sexuality for teens, parents and others; and the Forward Looking Youth (FLY) program, a peer-based abstinence education program.

HIV and AIDS education is still another branch of programming. CMS' Farano Program for Families counsels families affected by HIV/AIDS and helps the parents plan for their children's futures. (The Farano Center in Albany, which once served AIDS-affected children, now serves those with special needs.)

While the Farano program is unique, "I don't think we see a great need to expand our services in that area," Sister Mary Ann noted. "With the new drug therapies, HIV is more manageable. People are living a lot longer."

Actually, she said, CMS can't really plan any expansion right now. While she called it an advantage that the agency has several funding streams, between New York State's budgetary problems and the after-effects of the World Trade Center bombing, "you know it's not going to be a good year for funding."

Celebration

In March, CMS will hold its most significant event: the renaming of a maternity center in honor of Sister Maureen Joyce, RSM, who directed the first maternity residence and now heads Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese.

"A lot of what's happened here is due to Sister Maureen's vision as a founder," said Sister Mary Ann. "We have a really dedicated staff. We've been able to provide some quality service, to touch people's lives in a positive way."

(Contact CMS at 482-8836 or see www.cccms.com.)

(11-29-01) [[In-content Ad]]