October 14, 2024

Bethlehem House pregnancy center seeks volunteers, donations

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Carolee McGrath

Pam Hibbard, the director of Bethlehem House, helps load the car of a client due with her first baby at the end of October. Each new mom receives a baby basket filled with needed baby items.

EASTHAMPTON – Bethlehem House, a pregnancy care center in Easthampton, runs on volunteer hours and donations. Director Pam Hibbard said the Catholic non-profit could use more of both to meet the needs of the families they serve.

 “We need volunteers. We will train people to answer the phones, doing an intake sheet. Or maybe they want to come and fold baby clothes for a couple of hours. There are many, many jobs to keep the center running,” said Hibbard.  “The things we need the most are diapers and wipes of course. That’s our staple,” she said.

Last year, volunteers logged 12,000 hours helping women and their babies. Bethlehem House assists women until the baby is 18 months old. Once a month, mothers can come back to pick up supplies. All of the orders are filled by volunteers.

“It’s nice to help mothers in need. It’s not just new mothers. Some mothers have a couple of children and she happens to be having triplets,” said Linda Rzeszutek, a parishoner at Our Lady of the Valley in Easthampton. Rzeszutek has been volunteering for 10 years.

“It’s a lot of fun doing it.We get to pick what quilts we want, animals so it makes it fun,” she said.

Each new baby receives a new basket stocked with diapers, wipes, clothes and other essentials. Since 2006, Bethlehem House has given out more than 2300 baby baskets. In the last year, volunteers filled orders for 2 sets of triplets and 8 sets of twins.

“I volunteer because I am very strong pro-life person and I feel that if anything can help moms to make it easier for them, take weight off their shoulders, they know they can come here for resources. It’s a wonderful thing to do,” said volunteer Roseanne Stirlacci, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Springfield.

The annual Catholic Appeal supports Bethlehem House. The center also relies on the generosity of parishes that host baby showers to collect baby items.

Last summer, the state launched a media campaign to discredit pregnancy care centers, like Bethlehem House, claiming they deceive women and are even dangerous to women. Clients however have said Bethlehem House does nothing but help women.

“I’m 37 weeks about to have my first boy and I’m 40,” said a client named Brandi. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I wasn’t supposed to be able to have kids. I don’t know what I need and people are helping me.”

Hibbard said the first thing she says to a client is “congratulations.”

“If they come in crying and they are in a situation, we tell them it’s a baby and congratulations. That’s where we start,” Hibbard said.

“Most of the moms that come here have made up their minds that they are having their baby. Sometimes somebody comes in wavering, so we ask a lot of questions to see where their head is at and try to meet that need for them. They have to make the final decision, but we always promote life here,” she said.

Currently, the center is need of clothing for babies sized 0-3 months. For more information or to volunteer, go to http://www.bethlehemhousewma.org/

To see a video version of this story, go to “Real to Reel’s” YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsqYwJ-Ri6c