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Community Corner

Hannah's Home: Support Without Judgment

Mentor maternity home provides care and love for young, pregnant women

When 18-year-old Chelsea of Mentor moved into Hannah’s Home about three months ago, she didn’t like it.

During their first two weeks of living at the Mentor maternity home, the young, pregnant women are not allowed to use the phone, access the Internet or have people visit.

But Chelsea is grateful for that “quiet time” and now realizes that it allowed her to think about her challenging situation and what she needed to do to carve a new life for herself and her daughter, who will be born in October.

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“I understand that what I needed was structure, and had it not been for that, I don’t think I would be in a position that I am in today,” said Chelsea, who has reconciled with her family and has goals to attend college, become a veterinarian, live on a ranch in Montana and buy a horse for her daughter.

“I think Hannah Home is not just a maternity home. It’s one big family,” Chelsea said. “They don’t judge you on what you look like on the outside. They get to know you as a person and they care about what you want and how you feel.”

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Since Hannah’s Home opened its doors 10 years ago, more than 130 women have been supported by Hannah’s Home’s simple idea – to provide young, single, pregnant women who have nowhere to go with a safe and loving home to live in and to prepare for motherhood, or adoption, if they choose.

 The Mentor maternity home celebrated its 10th anniversary with an Sunday afternoon attended by more than 50 people. Hannah’s Home was founded by Carol Beresford, who now lives in Florida, where she is running another maternity home.

“Some of the young women who move in here don’t know what it’s like to be loved because they have been abused or come from difficult family situations,” said Jenn Bartone, who works part time as a resident adviser at Hannah’s Home. “That’s what Hannah’s Home is all about. It’s about loving these young women where they are at.”

 The pregnant women live at the maternity house for free until their baby is born. They are required to continue their education, earn their high school diploma or take college-level online courses. They also attend various classes to learn about life skills such as parenting, personal finances, cooking and sewing.

The women also attend Bible study class and church on Sundays. Some have part-time jobs or attend classes at Lakeland Community College or Auburn Career Center.

The women also receive counseling services to help them deal with personal issues and problems with families.

“Sometimes the pregnancies are really hard for families to accept and it can lead to a lot of conflict,” said June Starcher, who was one of the first staff workers at Hannah’s Home. “That’s why we have counseling here to help them get over those harsh feelings sorted out, so hopefully when they leave here, a lot of those hard feelings will have subsided and they will have reconciled with their families.”

In the future, Hannah’s Home plans to build a new facility to help young mothers after they give birth to their babies.

“Our dream is to open a facility to have people working with those girls on how to parent, how to feed, how to deal with a colicky child and how to persevere through all of the stress of a new mother,” says Connie Kovach, a Hannah's Home volunteer. “They need to grow and get comfortable with caring for a child because it is extremely demanding. It’s another helping hand.”

Those who wish to offer assistance or want to know more about Hannah's Home can visit its website  or call 440-209-9615 during office hours, which are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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