By Rita McInerney

Morning Star Center can be found on a little traveled road in the small town of Homerville, Ga., not far from the Florida State line but it welcomes unwed teenagers from all around the state to await the birth of their babies.

Providing the alternative to abortion since Oct. 30, 1987, Morning Star exists because of the compassion of a parish priest in nearby Lakeland, Father Brendan Timmins. Troubled because he had no place to offer a pregnant girl, who came to him for help, he decided he could not preach against abortion without offering an alternative.

Almost two years later, although Father Timmins is dead, his plan has matured and is a model for people concerned with providing care and support for girls who might otherwise be forced into having abortions. It is the only Catholic facility among the few maternity homes in Georgia.

Carrying on his dream is Irish-born Sister Alphonsina (Alphie) Malloy, a Franciscan sister who has no qualms about begging for Morning Star Center. She has to. This venture in faith, licensed by the state, operates on the generosity and goodwills of organizations and individuals. It shelters four expectant mothers at a time in a comfortable, cheerful home atmosphere. There is always a waiting list.

When Father Timmins, pastor of Queen of Peace Church in Lakeland and its missions in Nashville and Alapaha, came to her about five years ago and asked her to run such a center for him, Sister Alphie wasn’t ready to leave her work with teenagers caught up in the juvenile court system in Albany, Ga.

“It’s a good idea, I told him, but I had no intention of doing it,” she says. Yet the idea stayed with her. A few years later she called and told him she would take the challenge.

Fourteen girls have found haven at Morning Star since it opened Oct. 30, 1987, a bare two months before Father Timmins died of a heart attack Jan. 1, 1988.

The six-room house, donated to the priest, was cut in half and transported on a flatbed trailer from Ocilla to Moreville. It occupies a two-acre lot leased from the diocese of Savannah for one dollar a year. Inside, it is comfortable with new furniture given Sister Alphie by merchants and other donors. Two girls share a room with twin beds, bright and feminine, as girls’ domains should be. Living and dining rooms and TV lounge also were furnished by benefactors. Comfort and the calm found in ordered routine are evident to visitors.

Opening off the TV room is a 600 square-foot addition, newly built by Knights of Columbus from Waycross. This will provide an activity room and another bedroom and bath.

As Morning Star director, Sister Alphie is no nine-to-five executive. She’s on duty 24 hours a day takes the girls shopping and to the movies at the mall; they go as a family. We go mostly to the 6 p.m. Saturday Mass in Waycross,” she said.

With assistance from Loretta Brown, resident social worker, and outside agencies, Sister Alphie does much to ease present and future for the girls. They must attend school daily or, if they have dropped out, must study for their GED. They schedule their own doctor appointments, take care of their rooms and laundry, take turns at cleaning the house and cooking and serving dinner.

Of the four girls in residence now, one is scheduled to deliver Aug. 7, another Aug. 15. The others are due in October and November. The oldest resident is 19, two are 17 and one is 14. Each girl attends a program for pregnant girls presented monthly in Homerville by Nurse Beth Jones of the Clinch County health department.

Sister Alphie likes the fact that the program enables them to be “with girls from the community.” They go to Valdosta for Lamaze instruction and the girls coach each other in the method. When labor pains begin, Sister Alphie takes them to the hospital and remains with them through delivery.

Two doctors, one in Valdosta, the other in Waycross, deliver the babies. Medicaid picks up the costs for most of the girls.

Morning Star has taken in girls as young as 11. That child kept her baby. The oldest resident was a woman of 30, who also kept her infant. “The girls about 19 or 20 usually don’t keep their babies. Usually they’re in college or starting college,” the nun said in her friendly Irish brogue.

There have been 14 girls given shelter at Morning Star since its opening. A few entered but didn’t remain. Of her present charges, one has had an abortion.

“The parents usually make them have it (abortion). I’ve had four that have had abortions. Now they seem determined to have their babies. One girl, 12, came back at 19. They all say abortion is not their choice.”

The girls come to Morning Star Center from different directions. A lot of them, according to the Franciscan sister came through various county Family and Children’s Services. Some are referred to her by Birthright, including the Atlanta office, others by churches and individuals.

The difference in their ages is not a barrier to their living together amicably. “Pregnancy is the common denominator for them. They all talk about that,” their house mother says.

Morning Star is operated by Ortus, Inc., (Latin for birth), a legally incorporated non-profit organization that aims, according to its brochure, to provide the best care, love and understanding to pregnant, unmarried girls. Residents who can are asked to pay a proportionate share of the cost of their care. This would amount to about $45 monthly. The majority, Sister Alphie has found, can't pay.

Expenses for the center average about $16,524 annually or $1,377 monthly, according to Sister Alphie and are met through contributions. A woman with a warm heart and strong commitment to fighting abortion on the most basic level, she is tireless at begging for Morning Star. She wrote to each of the 38 K. of C. councils in Georgia asking for help. The results were excellent. “Ninety-five percent responded and a lot of them are still sending money.” Some councils are heard from monthly, other quarterly or annually.

The biggest gift to date came when the Knights of Columbus held their state convention in Albany in June. William Layburn, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Atlanta and immediate past state deputy, made it possible for Sister Alphie to plead her cause.

“She asked if she might address the meeting. I thought it would be a good idea if members could hear about Morning Star,” he says. “In this complex world we need input.”

Sister Alphie told how Morning Star was started and gave a slide presentation. “She just captured us,” Layburn says. With the recent Supreme Court decision on the Missouri law and the prospect of state laws becoming more restrictive on abortion, he says, “We have a much greater task to address. We have a responsibility to support such places.”

At that meeting, the state council voted that Morning Star would share in the sum of $22,065 along with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home in Atlanta and the Carmelite Sisters in Savannah. Sister Alphie was presented with the Knights’ check for $6,421. To this amount the Brunswick council added $200 for a grand total of $6,621. “It was our largest gift to date,” she says.

In 1987, the congregation of St. Mary on the Hill Church in Augusta had encouraged Father Timmins in his dream by contributing $6,167 to a second collection as the center prepared to open its doors.

Monetary contributions from the Knights of Columbus, parishes and friends keep the center going. Daily offerings of homebaked bread, fresh vegetables, casseroles are gratefully accepted from people who appreciate what Sister Alphie is doing.

Sister Alphie entered the novitiate of the Franciscan order in Mullingar 20 years ago then came to the order’s provincial house in Newton, Mass. She received her master’s degree in theology from Fairfield University in Connecticut.

About 11 years ago, Bishop Raymond Lessard needed a sister to work at St. Clare’s Community Center in Albany. She became involved with the juvenile court system while working with young people at the center.

Like Father Timmins, who did much of the work on the Morning Star house himself despite a heart condition, she is no stranger to carpentry. A small sundeck on the side of the house is her handiwork. She is working on a larger deck at the back of the house.

She watched and learned from the Irish-born priest while the house was being readied for its guests. “When you don’t have anyone to help you, you learn real fast,” she admits.

This is the first in a series of articles on what aid the Catholic Church in Georgia is offering pregnant women.