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May 23, 2025BY TANYA CONNOR | THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
Ja’Nya, who is expecting a baby in September, wasn’t expecting to find the kind of support she’s received at Visitation House in Worcester – especially from a religious entity.
“Sometimes people look down on me,” she told The Catholic Free Press after the home’s annual fundraising dinner, held Saturday at the College of the Holy Cross. But the folks at Visitation House – named for the Blessed Mother’s encounter with Elizabeth when both were unexpectedly pregnant
– “lift me up ... and help me realize I’m not alone. ... It made me feel my baby’s already loved.”
Visitation House, at 119 Endicott St. in Worcester, takes in homeless preg- nant women who want to choose life for their babies, Jill Bowman, president of the board of directors, told about 250 attendees at its 20th anniversary dinner. “We want to honor that choice.”
Over the 20 years, they’ve been able to serve more than 350 women and their babies, she said.
“Wow, 20 years!” she wrote in a letter in the program booklet. “When we opened our doors in 2005, our founders didn’t know how we would sustain the house and our mission ...They took that challenge and fully relied on God’s providence ... And, wow, did He deliver ...
20 years later we still benefit from our coura- geous founders’ time, investment and sleepless nights ...
20 years later our tireless staff and volunteers still mentor the women in our care to create something better for themselves and their children.
20 years later we own our home ...
20 years later we have over 100 churches, pro- life groups and Knights of Columbus communities active in giving and volun- teering.
20 years later we are thriving with a full house and active Chapel.”
“We do what we say we do,” executive director Rebecca Urban told dinner attendees. “We welcome homeless mothers who are 18 years old and above ... and we give them a lov- ing, stable home. ... We receive no government funding,” but get support from individual donors and parishes. The goal for this, the home’s biggest annual fundraiser, was to net $120,000.
She told The Catholic Free Press they raised
about half of that. Dona- tions made through the feast of the Visitation May 31 will be counted as din- ner proceeds. They can be made via the website visitationhouse.org or by mailing a check to Visita- tion House, 119 Endicott St., Worcester MA 01610.
Currently the house is full with 11 mothers, five of whom have already given birth to their babies and care for them there, she said.
The program booklet said it costs the home $3,933 per month to feed, house and educate one woman. Residents have four communal dinners per week; private, fur- nished bedrooms; support services; life skills and mother/child bonding classes, Masses and spiri- tual guidance. Mrs. Urban said the mothers work or are in school too and can stay until their babies are about a year old.
Mrs. Bowman told dinner attendees Visitation House was honoring two of its members.
One was Father Michael
J. Roy, their “beloved chap- lain” who’s “been with us from the beginning” and died this year. (The cur- rent chaplain, Jesuit Father John Gavin, said Father Roy had “the royal power” to make people feel special.)Mrs. Bowman also hon- ored Laurie Cahill, house manager for the past 10 years, to whom she said:
“You lead with the light of Christ. I see your patience ... guidance ... mother- hood. You are the reason why so many of us call Visitation House home.”
Eve Lindquist, former executive director, pre- sented Visitation House’s Ruth V.K. Pakaluk Legacy Award to Joseph Williams, a founding board member and president emeritus. The award is named for a local pro-life advocate who died before her vision for creating a home like this could be realized.
In his keynote speech
Mr. Williams told stories to illustrate his point about the importance of doing little things with great love.He was about five years old and his family was devastated by his younger sister’s spinal meningitis and cardiac arrests when they received a phone call from St. Teresa of Kolkata, who had been in Chicago: “I want you to know that
I visited Therese in the hospital today. I left her a Miraculous Medal. You are not to worry. She is in the Blessed Mothers hands.”
This “small act of generosity performed with great love” lifted his family’s spirits then and for years to come, Mr. Williams said. He likened that to Mrs. Pakaluk’s way of life and the efforts her friends made to start Visitation House.
He recalled a time of financial struggles when Mrs. Lindquist introduced
the board to a new resident and her baby. The mother told them her first pregnancy had ended in abortion, and she didn’t want
a repeat of that terror and pain, but saw no other choice. Her boyfriend would abandon her and she would have no place to live. As
she began to rush into the abortion clinic a pro-lifer told her, “You don’t have to do this; we have a place you can go now.”
Another of the home’s former residents spoke at this year’s dinner. Raquel Castro said that in 2008, at age 19, she was pregnant, without a support system, unsure where she would sleep. By age 11 she’d already faced homeless- ness twice, she said.
In Visitation House she found a safe, faith-based, family-oriented place where “mothers are respected, babies are respected,” and “I learned to hold myself accountable.” The home even had the items she needed, including cribs in each room and strollers.
She said Visitation House helped her “write the new chapter in my life ... they did not judge me; they supported me.” She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Her messages to mothers presently living there?
Make the most of the opportunity. Rest. Pray. Grow in faith. Learn from the staff and others.