“After five years of building awareness, friendraising, and fundraising, and many attempts at finding a suitable location, we finally found a really wonderful building well equipped for our use,” said Bill Klatt of the executive committee of Good Counsel, a ministry to pregnant women.
The new facility is a former convent at St. Casimir Parish (now part of Resurrection Parish), in Riverside, N.J. It has 10 bedrooms, a large kitchen and dining room, with meeting, counseling and office spaces. It also has a chapel and ground for an outdoor play area.
Good Counsel homes for homeless pregnant mothers and their children, was founded in 1985 by Father. Benedict Groeschel and Chris Bell. There are four homes in New York. Klatt and others have been working for years to establish a Good Counsel home in the South Jersey area.
The Riverside facility is currently undergoing renovations.
“We plan to start hiring some staff in October and, please God, open on a small scale later this year with the goal to be fully occupied in January,” said Klatt, a former pro-life director for the Diocese of Camden.
The home will follow the basic guidelines, programs, and procedures that Good Counsel has developed over the past 25 years of serving homeless pregnant women and their children in their New York area homes.
“Our local volunteers have been serving the South Jersey community on an outreach basis and in just the past 20 months have helped 29 women and saved 33 babies,” Klatt said.
He noted that operating a Good Counsel Home is expensive because in addition to food, clothing and shelter, the “Life Skills Program” provides courses on health, nutrition, parenting and job skills.
“What really showed me how much we needed a Good Counsel home in South Jersey was meeting Bernadette, who was four months pregnant when her boss had driven her to an abortion clinic and told her she would be fired if she did not have an abortion,” said Brenda Quinn, a member of the executive committee who has been working to establish Good Counsel in South Jersey.
“Her boyfriend, had already abandoned her with bills that were much more than she could ever pay. We called many social services and help-lines, but no one could help with housing, bills, jobs, etc. Because there was no place in South Jersey like Good Counsel to help her, she went back to the clinic and had the abortion,” Quinn said. “Now she suffers daily, grieving for her child that she lost.”
Good Counsel co-founder Chris Bell, said, “It’s amazing to see what kind of progress a young mother can make with a lot of prayers, a lot of love, and the support we can offer in the home by providing the basic necessities that any family would provide for their children.”
Good Counsel also has a 24-hour pregnancy helpline 800-723-8331 and a Lumina Program for those seeking post-abortion help, 877-586-4621
“The annual budget for a typical Good Counsel home is $350,000,” Klatt said, “so we will never be able to stop fundraising.” The fourth annual Good Counsel fundraiser/banquet is being held Friday, Oct. 22, from 6-9 p.m. at Lucien’s Manor, Rt. 30, Berlin. Call Marisol Crespo for invitations/RSVP at 856-332-9164, email miramachi78@hotmail.com.
For more information on Good Counsel, contact Bill Klatt 856-589-4925, email billjklatt@comcast.net, or contact Brenda Quinn 856-423-3468, email olvbquinn@aol.com
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