My family and I have moved eight times in the last twelve years. Hard were the drastic changes in weather; the packing and unpacking; the shuffle of changing over everything from car insurance to pediatricians to kids’ activities. Hardest of all, though, was being alone. Starting over in a new town or city with no extended family in sight can make a girl feel lonely, especially when she’s got children in tow.
Imagine how much harder it is for women who are young, single, pregnant and alone. There is no time more vulnerable for a woman than when she has not only her own life to look after, but also the life of her unborn child. Every woman who’s ever been pregnant has felt afraid at some point: a sense of needing help, a sense of needing support. How much more so when the woman in question is a single mom?
At Life Options Network, we see the woman facing an unplanned pregnancy, and we want to create new opportunities for her. We believe we can help this vulnerable population in our society by providing women a hand up and connecting them with resources that meet their daily needs. We rejoice when new co-living opportunities arise, and we have future plans to provide housing to women at risk for abortion or homelessness.
When communities take care of each other, we can accomplish great things. Organizations like Co-Abode* www.coabode.org help single mothers find ways to house-share together, making it possible for women to find the support and friendship they desperately need. We celebrate them! Co-living is a positive and life-giving option for mothers facing unplanned pregnancies, job loss, or the loss of a partner. *LON has not been made aware of any stance that Co-Abode may or may not have on the abortion issue.
According to the Guttmacher Institute “Some 75% of abortion patients in 2014 were poor … or low-income.” To a woman alone, poverty is a giant that cannot be beat. But when she knows she is not alone, when she knows she has safe places to go and safe people to grow with, she can accomplish anything – from choosing life for her baby to giving the best life to her child.
By giving to Life Options Network, you can help. https://lifeoptionsnetwork.org/donate/. Life Options Network is not only spreading the word about ministries like Co-Abode, they are also working towards providing housing for single pregnant women in the PNW, where they are based. Every child deserves a life, and every mother deserves a home. By supporting LON, you are helping keep families together.
