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One Catholic school in North Dakota is stepping up to offer childcare, housing and community to young single moms who are students.
Editor's Note: This article is part of a special series celebrating Catholic universities and colleges and their outreach to students in a post-Roe world. Find more stories here.
BISMARCK, N.D. — Amid the crowd of college students and faculty on campus at the University of Mary, two babies are a common sight. The students wave to them in the halls, volunteer to babysit them while their moms are in class, and share meals with them in a campus restaurant.
One professor at the Bismarck, North Dakota, university calls baby Lucia, with her dark pigtails and feisty personality, his favorite student, and another professor’s wife loves to watch baby Augustine during review sessions.
“The students here, they all love babies,” Katie, Lucia’s mother, told the Register, adding that it’s “comforting” that when babysitting plans fall through and she brings Lucia to class, “everyone in the room is just happy to have her.” She credits the community with giving her the confidence to return to school and work on finishing her degree after her unplanned pregnancy.
She and Angelina Hanft are the first two participants in the St. Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers, a program that the Benedictine school launched in January. It provides childcare, room and board, and other assistance to women facing unexpected pregnancies as they pursue their degrees.
Jerome Richter, the executive vice president and chief of staff at the University of Mary, told the Register that the idea for the program began in 2019, when a Catholic couple who offered financial support to the school asked if “something more” could be done to offer “assistance to a young mother who finds herself in this situation to receive a college degree.”
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Editor's Note: This article is part of a special series celebrating Catholic universities and colleges and their outreach to students in a post-Roe world. Find more stories here.
BISMARCK, N.D. — Amid the crowd of college students and faculty on campus at the University of Mary, two babies are a common sight. The students wave to them in the halls, volunteer to babysit them while their moms are in class, and share meals with them in a campus restaurant.
One professor at the Bismarck, North Dakota, university calls baby Lucia, with her dark pigtails and feisty personality, his favorite student, and another professor’s wife loves to watch baby Augustine during review sessions.
“The students here, they all love babies,” Katie, Lucia’s mother, told the Register, adding that it’s “comforting” that when babysitting plans fall through and she brings Lucia to class, “everyone in the room is just happy to have her.” She credits the community with giving her the confidence to return to school and work on finishing her degree after her unplanned pregnancy.
She and Angelina Hanft are the first two participants in the St. Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers, a program that the Benedictine school launched in January. It provides childcare, room and board, and other assistance to women facing unexpected pregnancies as they pursue their degrees.
Jerome Richter, the executive vice president and chief of staff at the University of Mary, told the Register that the idea for the program began in 2019, when a Catholic couple who offered financial support to the school asked if “something more” could be done to offer “assistance to a young mother who finds herself in this situation to receive a college degree.”
Continued below.
Mothers on Campus: University of Mary Creates Community to Empower Young Women to Choose Life While Pursuing Degrees
One Catholic school in North Dakota is stepping up to offer childcare, housing and community to young single moms who are students.
