About Us
Our mission, as a residential and community outreach campus, is to make the pro-life path achievable for women in pregnancies by offering healing and education for moms as they bring life into the world.
Our History
St. Mary's Home for Mothers
The Gabriel Project Kansas City acquired the land and home that now houses St. Mary’s Home for Mothers. Modeled after successful maternity homes nationwide, St. Mary’s provides shelter for up to 15 homeless, pregnant women and their children. The Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area previously lacked adequate housing options for pregnant, homeless women, despite approximately 50 such cases encountered by social service agencies annually. St. Mary’s has significantly addressed this crucial gap by offering a safe and dignified living environment, enabling these women to build a path towards an independent and productive life for their families.
Our Property
St. Mary’s Home for Mothers is a 2-story, 15,000 sq. ft. house on 13.7 acres east of Liberty, MO. It was designed by Mike Jantz, Rockhurst High School, Kansas City, Class of ’73. He designed it for the order of Benedictine Sisters as Queen of Angels Monastery. It was originally designed and completed for the Benedictine Sisters of Queen of Angels in 2001 and occupied by them until 2017. In March 2021, it was purchased by generous benefactors to be turned into a residence for homeless, pregnant mothers and their children.
The Gabriel Project Mission
The Gabriel Project KC, a ministry of the Pro-Life Office in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and the Respect Life Office in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, provides assistance to pregnant women in need. GPKC funds Respect Life initiatives throughout the greater metropolitan area, supporting both the Gabriel Project ministry and other non-affiliated ministries aiding pregnant women. They offer emotional, material, and spiritual support for women considering parenting or adoption. GPKC spearheaded the establishment of St. Mary’s Home for Mothers due to the lack of housing resources for homeless pregnant women. While St. Mary’s is now an independent agency, it continues to collaborate with GPKC in various ways, including funding oversight and participation in the Angel Program.
The Angel Program
The Angel Program provides support to 40 pregnant women in the Kansas City, KS and Kansas City-St. Joseph dioceses. When a pregnant woman in need seeks assistance, she is matched with a trained volunteer called an Angel. The Angel maintains ongoing contact with the mother, offering support throughout her journey, beyond just the birth of the child. The Angel Program is operated by the Respect Life Office in each diocese, with financial and in-kind support from GPKC. The church community also plays a vital role by providing additional love, care, and material, emotional, and spiritual support to the mother. Consider becoming an Angel to help our moms in need!
Our Team
Maria Agro
Client Advocate/Overnight staff
Maria Agro
Client Advocate/Overnight staff
Our Board of Directors
Ann Marie Alvey
Andrea Spencer, BSW
Nick Wahl
Dr. Karen Krohn
Judy Hutchison
Our Residential Program
St. Mary’s fills a critical gap in the needs of homeless women who are in a crisis pregnancy by offering a dignified place for her to be pregnant, raise her infant, and create a path to a productive, independent life. If mothers already have children in addition to the infant, they may bring their children as well to live at our home.
We prioritize meeting the mother’s immediate needs and assign each mother a private room. Case managers assess their background and challenges to create a personalized plan addressing health, education, and psychosocial needs. The support team, including therapists, nurses, counselors, and staff, collaboratively supports the women and children in the residential program.
Our support team works with mothers to achieve specific parenting, educational, employment, and housing goals. Registered nurses offer perinatal support and education. Professional counselors focus on mental wellness, assisting residents in addressing trauma, substance abuse, and other psychosocial needs. Social workers work closely with community resources to coordinate additional outside services needed by our families.
Mothers share in household activities, learn life skills, and establish goals through an individualized plan. The foundation of self-awareness and self-esteem is crucial for the mother to gain the confidence she needs to address the challenges of parenting and consequently, to move towards an independent and productive life.
Workshops and trainings cover topics such as parenting, nutrition, employment readiness, educational preparedness, stress management, prenatal and postnatal care, budgeting, child development, and building healthy relationships.
Our Residential Program
St. Mary’s fills a critical gap in the needs of homeless women who are in a crisis pregnancy by offering a dignified place for her to be pregnant, raise her infant, and create a path to a productive, independent life. If mothers already have children in addition to the infant, they may bring their children as well to live at our home.
We prioritize meeting the mother’s immediate needs and assign each mother a private room. Case managers assess their background and challenges to create a personalized plan addressing health, education, and psychosocial needs. The support team, including therapists, nurses, counselors, and staff, collaboratively supports the women and children in the residential program.
Our support team works with mothers to achieve specific parenting, educational, employment, and housing goals. Registered nurses offer perinatal support and education. Professional counselors focus on mental wellness, assisting residents in addressing trauma, substance abuse, and other psychosocial needs. Social workers work closely with community resources to coordinate additional outside services needed by our families.
Mothers share in household activities, learn life skills, and establish goals through an individualized plan. The foundation of self-awareness and self-esteem is crucial for the mother to gain the confidence she needs to address the challenges of parenting and consequently, to move towards an independent and productive life.
Workshops and trainings cover topics such as parenting, nutrition, employment readiness, educational preparedness, stress management, prenatal and postnatal care, budgeting, child development, and building healthy relationships.
Our Treatment Approaches
Professional counselors at St. Mary’s Home for Mothers use multiple treatment approaches that are evidence based or empirically validated for their effectiveness. These approaches are also trauma-informed and considered best practices in this field.
This approach teaches coping skills to help people attain a sense of safety when dealing with the repercussions of trauma and/or addiction in their lives. It is present-focused and designed to be safe, optimistic, and engaging.
Translated into 12 languages, Seeking Safety has been implemented for over 20 years in diverse types of programs, including community-based mental health, addiction, criminal justice, veteran/military, adolescent, school, and medical settings.
TBRI is a therapeutic model that trains caregivers to provide effective support and treatment for at-risk children. TBRI has been applied in orphanages, courts, residential treatment facilities, group homes, foster and adoptive homes, churches, and schools. It has been used effectively with children and youth of all ages and all risk levels.
We incorporate an on-site farming component into our healing modality. This component is essential to the growth and development of the mothers as whole persons. Gardening as a group gives everyone some “skin in the game”, sets high expectations and stimulates personal growth and development. St. Mary’s Home for Mothers utilizes this intervention to develop parenting skills specifically for children at risk. The TBRI approach is rooted in sensory processing, which is why its adaptation to the farming component is so effective. Working in therapy while immersing ourselves in dirt, planting and harvesting, and breathing the fresh air all helps to engage in one’s senses, creating an atmosphere that bodes well for better treatment outcomes.
Practically, we use the fruits, vegetables and flowers to nourish our community at St. Mary’s, as well as make our produce available to our community members, if needed.
Our Treatment Approaches
Professional counselors at St. Mary’s Home for Mothers use multiple treatment approaches that are evidence based or empirically validated for their effectiveness. These approaches are also trauma-informed and considered best practices in this field.
This approach teaches coping skills to help people attain a sense of safety when dealing with the repercussions of trauma and/or addiction in their lives. It is present-focused and designed to be safe, optimistic, and engaging.
Translated into 12 languages, Seeking Safety has been implemented for over 20 years in diverse types of programs, including community-based mental health, addiction, criminal justice, veteran/military, adolescent, school, and medical settings.
TBRI is a therapeutic model that trains caregivers to provide effective support and treatment for at-risk children. TBRI has been applied in orphanages, courts, residential treatment facilities, group homes, foster and adoptive homes, churches, and schools. It has been used effectively with children and youth of all ages and all risk levels.
We incorporate an on-site farming component into our healing modality. This component is essential to the growth and development of the mothers as whole persons. Gardening as a group gives everyone some “skin in the game”, sets high expectations and stimulates personal growth and development. St. Mary’s Home for Mothers utilizes this intervention to develop parenting skills specifically for children at risk. The TBRI approach is rooted in sensory processing, which is why its adaptation to the farming component is so effective. Working in therapy while immersing ourselves in dirt, planting and harvesting, and breathing the fresh air all helps to engage in one’s senses, creating an atmosphere that bodes well for better treatment outcomes.
Practically, we use the fruits, vegetables and flowers to nourish our community at St. Mary’s, as well as make our produce available to our community members, if needed.
Outcomes Measured
We utilize evidence-based instruments that are industry recognized to help aid in the effectiveness of our treatment interventions. We measure depression and anxiety at St. Mary’s over time with the PHQ-9, Edinburgh and GAD-7 scales that look at clinical improvement.
