Mary’s Refuge Gala Raises Funds and Awareness
Maternity home is a bursting at the seams success.The following is an excerpt and summary of an article by Meg. Partington, of St. Joseph School. The complete article will be featured in The Catholic Spirit.
More than $80,000 was raised at the Gala for Mary’s Refuge in Martinsburg last week. Mary’s Refuge is a safe haven for expecting mothers-to-be.
Since November 2024 the home has helped 21 mothers and 17 children.
Deacon Patrick Michel from St. Joseph Parish explained that the refuge came into being thanks to a coalition of all the Eastern Panhandle Catholic churches: St. Joseph in Martinsburg; St. James the Greater in Charles Town; St. Agnes in Shepherdstown; St. Bernadette in Hedgesville; St. Leo in Inwood; and St. Vincent de Paul in Berkeley Springs.
Currently 11 mothers and 13 children are living at the maternity home, that operates with a four-person staff and countless volunteers, who believe in putting single mothers on the path to self-sufficiency – the ultimate pro-life, pro-woman, and pro-child action.
“It’s plainly evident that we have a space problem,” Michael Gormley, president of the Mary’s Refuge board, told those assembled at the gala.
He outlined plans for growth, including converting the third floor of the facility into two apartments; renovating the home of a parishioner into two apartments; and purchasing a building in the city of Martinsburg to house six more apartments for transitional living, plus an area for office space with mental health services, fatherhood programming, classes, child care and job training.
“We are so thankful for the generosity you have shown us,” Gormley said, adding that financial support from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has been vital to the establishment and expansion of the refuge.
For more information about Mary’s Refuge or to make a donation, call 304-350-1632; email [email protected]; or go to marysrefuge.com.
