By Thea Jarvis

At the age of 17, Ruth was unmarried and expecting a child.

When her parents learned of her unexpected pregnancy, she was no longer allowed to live at home. She soon found that her native county was one of the 20 Georgia districts without public facilities for prenatal care.

Confused and lonely, Ruth took an hour-long bus trip to Atlanta hoping to find help in the big city. What awaited her, however, was an agonizing round of government and private agencies designed, it seemed, to help everyone but herself.

The Florence Crittendon Services on Peachtree Street cannot get state aid until a woman is in the seventh month of her pregnancy. Since Ruth had no funds and was but five months pregnant, Florence Crittenton could not accept her.

Grady Hospital, mother to so many urban needy, was hamstrung by government and red tape that prohibited Medicaid payments because Ruth was not head of a household.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children was not available until after Ruth’s baby had arrived. Even after the infant’s birth, the six-week processing lag would leave her in limbo.

And so on …

“Ruth’s problem was that she didn’t fit into any category presently being served by Atlanta area agencies,” says Mary Ellen Hughes, Respect-Life Office coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

“She needed shelter and prenatal care on a moderately long-term basis – at least until the baby came and she was able to get a job and support herself.”

It was because of young women like Ruth that the Crisis Pregnancy Service began just one year ago. An arm of Catholic Social Services, CPS has served approximately 100 women ranging in age from 14 to 38 years over the past 12 months.

“What the Crisis Pregnancy Service could offer Ruth was a place where she would be welcomed and cared for when she really needed it,” says Ms. Hughes, citing the 12 volunteer “shelter homes” that the CPS has on call.

Such “shelter homes” are merely families opening up their own lives to the life of a pregnant woman in need.

In addition to food and shelter, Ruth could now avail herself of prenatal care because local doctors have offered their services to CPS without charge.

This past September, the March of Dimes–Better Infant Births sponsored a seminar at Georgia State University entitled “The Pregnant Woman and Her Infant: The Community Responds.”

Health care professionals, social workers, teachers, and interested persons from seven metro counties gathered to tackle the problems of Ruth and hundreds of women like her who just don’t fit into the system.

“It was a beginning,” reflects Mary Ellen Hughes, noting some significant steps taken at the conference.

“Some problems were solved immediately, like the case of the MARTA bus drivers who were refusing to take women in labor to Grady for fear they would deliver en route.”

Ms. Hughes delivered a “Profile of the Pregnant Woman” at the Georgia State conference in which she emphasized the “shelter home” as the most outstanding need for the mothers-to-be.

“We would like to expand the number of homes open to women like Ruth,” she says with enthusiasm. “There is even a need for homes to take in the mother and child during the six-week recuperative period following the birth. If no homes are available, babies must be placed in temporary foster care until the mothers get on their feet.”

In the opinion of Ms. Hughes, the “shelter home” is the key to solving the initial dilemma of a woman with a crisis pregnancy.

“Until these women have a roof over their heads and food to eat, we can’t even begin to solve the other problems that weigh so heavily upon them.”

Anyone interested in offering a “shelter home” or learning more about the program is invited to call Sister Mary Jacobs at the Catholic Center (881-6571).