Support Unplanned Pregnancies

The Gabriel Project is national network of churches, including St. Bartholomew, that assists women and families who are challenged with unexpected pregnancies. Many pregnant women feel forced into obtaining an abortion by their life circumstances or influential loved ones. Many are made to believe that parenting their children or giving them up for adoption is irresponsible.  The Gabriel Project seeks to help these women make the choice for life by providing practical, emotional, and spiritual mentoring and assistance both during and after their pregnancies.  Expectant mothers are connected with Gabriel Project volunteers in one of two ways -- occassionally, a mother will call the parish directly after she has seen the Gabriel Project sign near the entrance of the church, but most often, we the Gabriel Network receives a call from an expectant mother via their 24-hour hotline, 1800-ANGEL-OK, and passes on her information to our Gabriel Project coorinator. The coordinator asks one of our volunteers to be the mother's "Angel Friend". This volunteer mentors the expectant mother and visits her to see what she might need and to offer emotional, moral, and spiritual support.  If you would like to know more about our response at St Bart’s, contact Selma DeLeon at [email protected] or 240-372-5915.  For more information about the Angel Friend program, contact Jacqueline Johnson at 1800-ANGEL-OK or [email protected].