Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Shelter offers a Helping Hand for Moms
By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos courtesy of Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Shelter
Hi, I’m sitting in the car with my mom and I’m pregnant and don’t have any place to go. Can you help me?
For the staff at Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Shelter (OLAMS) in Temple, this is the type of phone calls they answer every day.
“We are here to interrupt the crisis,” said Georgette Greenwood, OLAMS director since 2018. “We understand that every woman coming to the shelter enters with a unique story. Most either don’t have a family or have no relationship with family. Many are coming from a domestic violence situation or other traumatic background.”
OLAMS, founded in 1990, provides shelter to women in crisis pregnancies and post-partum by offering a loving and stable family environment to support the mother and child in their efforts to create a hopeful future for themselves. The shelter is staffed 24/7 and has grown to include much more than a temporary place to stay. Clients can now stay for 90 days at OLAMS’ facility, a beautiful five-bedroom home furnished with 11 beds and five cribs. The duplex next door has room for a family as well, and there is never a charge to the client.
To fully support their clients, OLAMS provides a licensed professional counselor specializing in mental health trauma therapy for both mothers and their children, as well as group therapy programs. While many mental health facilities will not accept pregnant women and many maternity shelters will not accept women with mental health issues, OLAMS doesn’t let that be a barrier for a young woman to obtain the help and care she needs. Each client is assigned a case manager who helps come up with a plan and makes sure the client is benefiting from all the available community resources. Residents are also required to participate in counseling, parenting classes and chores at the shelter.
“I’m also big on education,” Greenwood added. “I push them to get their GED and not just settle for working at a fast-food restaurant. We provide comprehensive support for the whole parent through a variety of proven and evidence-based methods to help parents reach their goals. We provide pregnancy and parenting courses, life skills courses such as financial literacy, job-readiness training, workforce development support, higher education support and benefits application assistance.”
OLAMS staff provides transportation to prenatal visits and community and social service resources, if needed, and works directly with other community resources such as Temple College, Temple Workforce, the Salvation Army and Temple/Belton Housing Authorities to obtain the help their clients need.
After a client finishes the 90-day program, she moves to the aftercare program. This program helps the client to continue to succeed independently. Once a client has successfully moved out of the shelter, aftercare is available until her youngest child is 3 years old. This program provides life skills, job readiness and higher education support. It also provides materials assistance; continues counseling and case management; and educates clients on the resources available to them in their community. This support solidifies the foundation for clients to break the cycle of homelessness and create a better future for themselves and their children.
OLAMS also reaches out to the community at large. The Material Assistance Program expands the ministry’s services beyond the shelter walls to the broader community of mothers and children. OLAMS distributes items such as diapers, formula and car seats throughout Texas.
To be eligible for materials assistance, families must participate in an educational course or counseling session. In 2023, OLAMS helped more than 2,600 families materially, physically, mentally and spiritually.
GET INVOLVED
Website: ladyoftheangels.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/ourladyoftheangelsmaternityshelter
Phone: 254-742-2340 (available 24/7)
