Our Lady of Guadalupe Home offers hope, help to women, children

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Program manager Marina Kowalsky, a social worker by occupation, helps residents with finding employment, child care, housing, educational opportunities and importantly, hands-on help caring for an infant.

Parenting skills, life skills, cooking, hygiene and emotional skills are all taught at the home.

“Some of them don’t know how to love. They’ve never been loved. They need to be taught to love,” Kowalsky said. “And that’s probably the hardest one because you can teach them how to do things. How do you teach somebody how to feel?

“It’s not always successful but we don’t stop trying because it’s so very important. And if they got that one then there’s a chance (for successful parenting) too.”

Kowalsky, who has worked at the homes since 2017, said initially it was established to give women a choice to have their baby without sacrificing work or education but it has evolved from there.

“Children’s Aid families come to us for women who are at risk of losing their children,” she said. “The judges look at that. (The women) are in a stable scenario in residence that will help them learn how to parent (and) many will allow them to keep their baby and assess how they do.”

The non-profit home is staffed 24-hours-a day, seven-days a week and runs completely on donations and divine intervention, said Dube.

“It’s completely funded by divine providence. And that’s how it’s been for our home from the beginning,” Dube said. “We received absolutely no government funding, nor have we from the very beginning.”