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Paul Stefan Home in Orange helping unwed mothers get their lives on track
BY ROBIN KNEPPER Jennifer Arnold talks easily about her life before and after the birth of her son, Emmanuel. "I know how my life looks," she says, "but this baby is giving me hope. I feel it's God's way for me and Jada and Makayla." Jadalyn, 5, and Makayla, 6, are Emmanuel's sisters. They live in Stafford County in the custody of Jennifer's mother. Arnold and her 8-month-old son are living at the Paul Stefan Home, a safe haven for unwed mothers near Unionville in Orange County founded by former home-builder Randy James and his wife, Evelyn. Arnold arrived there after a difficult journey from a fast-paced life in Northern Virginia and Washington through the grief and turmoil of widowhood, drug and alcohol use, family disintegration, unemployment, major health problems and homelessness. "I'd been living in a shelter in Manassas and I was almost five months pregnant," she says. "I was as big as a house and I could feel the clock ticking in my head. I'd been looking for a job, but I didn't look employable. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay for long in the shelter." A nurse she knew from her visits to the health department suggested the Paul Stefan Home. Soon after, Arnold received a call from Patricia Newman, the home's clinical director at the time. "She was so sweet," Arnold recalls. "She listened to me blubbering out my story. I kept saying, 'I'm bad, I'm bad,' and Patricia kept saying, 'I don't think it'll be a problem.'" Arnold made an appointment and her mother drove her to Orange County for a look-see. "We're driving down the road and I see nothing but land--and cows--and I lost my cell-phone signal," she recalls with a laugh. "Where's the Metro station or the bus stops? I wonder. How do people survive out here? "The baby's kicking and I have butterflies in my stomach. We drive up to the house. I see Catholic symbols by the door, and that threw me off a little bit. I wondered if there were nuns here.
Date published: 5/9/2009
Well it seems they give credit to God for them to have been able to make it work, so they (and I) feel they had God there helping them along the way. Non-believers obviously don't give credit to God but all to the people who did the work. Maybe God was there with them also, they just didn't see or feel his presense.
But I agree, Kudos to the James' and all that have helped with the project over the years. May it continue to touch more lives, big and small.
They said if they didn't think god was behind it, then they would have faltered? And not brought this project to completion? That's very sad--plenty of atheists and other non-believers bring great community projects to fruition all the time,without the need for diety of some sort. Kudos to them for seeing it through.
commendable. Thanks to the Jameses for reaching out in this area of need.
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