BIDDEFORD — When Julia Dobson became pregnant with her two boys at age 19, she didn’t know where to turn. She had no home of her own, no parenting skills and little income.
She needed help.
Then she learned about Biddeford-based Saint Andre Home.
Dobson, who was four months pregnant at the time, moved into one of the organization’s four group homes within a month.
She credits Saint Andre with helping her turn her life around.
The organization would like to help more women like Dobson, said Executive Director Peter Fitzpatrick, and would like the community’s support to do so.
The Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec started Saint Andre in 1940 to assist young, unwed pregnant women like Dobson, said Director of Development Erin Hartnett.
Originally located in an institutional setting on Pool Street, St. Andre’s now operates four group homes, one each in Biddeford and Bangor and two in Lewiston.
Changes in state and federal funding requirements starting in the 1990s forced the private, non-profit organization to change its focus. Now it predominantly serves parenting mothers and only occasionally provides assistance to pregnant women, said Hartnett.
In addition, since last year, the women and children who move into one of Saint Andre’s four group homes must be referred to the agency through the Department of Health and Human Services, she said.
“We’d like to get back to doing what we do best,” said Director of Programming Jane Vachon, which she said is helping women before they deliver. However, state and federal funding is not available to St. Andre’s for that approach, so a private donor would be needed.
The organization can make more of an impact by providing a home, parenting and other courses and emotional support before the baby is born, she said, before new moms face the added pressure of taking care of their child.
The need is there, said Fitzpatrick.
Saint Andre received close to 150 requests for help from pregnant women in the last year, he said.
While Saint Andre can provide some outreach support to pregnant women through its counselors, said Fitzpatrick, there is a greater need for more intensive support that can only be provided in the group home setting.
He points to the success of Dobson and her sons.
Today the single mother lives with her twin boys, Jackson and Riley, now three years old, in their own apartment in Saco.
The boys go to daycare while their mother volunteers at Southern Maine Medical Center and works toward her goal of becoming a massage therapist.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” said Dobson about the Saint Andre staff.
When she came to Saint Andre, said Dobson she didn’t have a plan for her future and didn’t know how she would care for her babies once she delivered.
At the group home, she said, she learned many things, such as how to cook healthy meals, parenting skills, how to budget and about the resources available to her and her children.
In addition to providing skills, shelter and meals, Saint Andre staff members provided emotional support, which was especially important when she experienced post-partum depression after delivering her twins, said Dobson.
When it was time to leave, she said, the staff also helped her find an apartment and took her shopping to purchase items for the babies and furnishings for her new apartment.
Before coming to Saint Andre, said Dobson, “The hardest thing was I knew I was going to have to be alone and have to find strength to take care of twins.”
“I know I don’t have a license or a well-paying job,” said Dobson. But, she said, her children are happy, healthy, smart and well-adjusted, and she is working toward a goal to be able to support her family.
“I could not imagine if I did not go to Saint Andre. It would have been a lot harder, a lot more of a struggle,” said Dobson.
Fitzpatrick said he hopes that businesses and/or individuals in the community will step up and partner with the organization to help Saint Andre help unmarried mothers-to-be once more.
“I truly believe people are generous,” he said. “We believe there are people out there who have the means to help.”
For more information call Saint Andre Home at 282-3351 or visit the website www.saintandrehome.org.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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