All our moms at Maggie’s Place are courageous, there is no doubt about that. It requires great strength and determination to face the situations in their lives and come through with a smile on their face. I always tell people that nothing surprises me anymore at Maggie’s Place, but I’ve come to never expect ‘nothing’.…
Maggie’s Place is all about the love. Moms come to our homes for many reasons, but are always rooted in love for their child. Volunteers, donors and the local community support our mission out of love, charity and generosity. As MissionCorps, we spend our time and energy simply because we love the moms and babies…
Surprises can be so good. An unexpected piece of mail or phone call from someone you love, the timing of the birth of a baby, Jesus’ disciples finding His tomb empty on Easter morning, or 50 teenagers showing up in your backyard to sing a concert. That last one really happened. To be completely truthful,…
Lent—a time set aside to help us reflect, pause and grow in silence, to deepen our relationship with Christ. Sometimes I wish the rest of the world would get the memo and cooperate with my selfish desire to have 40 days to be a hermit, and come out a better person. As much as I…
At Maggie’s Place, we are blessed each and every day with so many gifts. Some of them are tangible and address basic physical needs such as laundry detergent, groceries or printer ink; while others are intangible acts of goodwill—prayers from the community, kind words, or volunteers who tend to the garden so the house can…
Often times, I feel like I get caught up in the “me” side of things when it comes to Lent. What’s the easiest thing for me to give up? What’s going to hurt the least and put me out as little as possible? When I was a kid, I remember giving up chocolate milk at…
I have found that people are extremely curious about my life at Maggie’s Place; what I do, how I do it and why. Every conversation, even with my family, turns into a discussion panel—me standing up there alone explaining, re-explaining and defending my work. Things common to my everyday life are foreign concepts for my…
Recently I was vacationing in Flagstaff with a friend, where we decided to stay in a hostel for the night. As we checked in and milled around the common room, people started asking us the normal get-to-know-you questions. Being a MissionCorps member at Maggie’s Place, I dread this very ordinary social interaction, because often right…
The Zechariah House in Cleveland, OH celebrated Valentine’s Day in style by welcoming 73 guests to the College Club on February 13th, for the “2nd Annual Wine & Dine for Maggie’s Place” benefit. Mia Bella Restaurant, a two-time “Best of Little Italy” award winner in Cleveland, provided a wonderful Italian meal and variety of fine wines for sampling,…
It doesn’t take a big heart to serve, just a broken one. The longer I have been at Maggie’s Place, the more convinced I am of the truth of this statement. It is our humanness that allows the community at our homes to flourish. Just last week I was downtown helping a new mom gather…