Grant Applicant: One by One Ministries

The feature below is brought to you by One by One Ministries an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. 

To learn more about One by One Ministries, please visit their website page: here.

Bea and Ashley's Story.

Can you see her? Have you met her before? Let me introduce you to Bea. She is growing and looking at the world in a new way, maybe with a bit of optimism, maybe with a bit of fear. She wants to see a beautiful life before her.

She is longing for someone to remind her of the beauty that she is reaching for…Someone whose positive voice is louder than the negative voices around her and at times, maybe in her own head.

Can you see what kind of week she has had? It’s Friday night and she can’t believe she’s already in bed but after being on her feet all day every day this week she doesn’t care. Tomorrow she will head out to meet her mentor at a local coffee shop. She doesn’t know many people in the neighborhood she only thought she would be in for a short time. She misses familiarity. Much has changed in the last few months.

It is quiet in the house as she lay in bed. She settles in and begins to feel the life inside her stir. Just a few weeks ago she heard, “You’re having a boy.” A small smile crosses her face but then her mind moves in different directions with questions she doesn’t have the answers to. But tomorrow...she looks forward to tomorrow.

Not far from Bea’s neighborhood her mentor, Ashley, is tucking her own two little ones in bed. Well, they are not so little anymore and the tucking in is more like an encouraging word and a slight touch on the shoulder before turning the light out. It has indeed been a long week.

She too is looking forward to spending time with another mom. She hasn’t seen Bea since last month when the weather was still nice enough to meet in the park, but they’ve been texting and talking on the phone.

Bea and Ashley are getting to know each other and appreciate one another’s journey. Ashley feels honored to walk with Bea in the new road that is before her. She is inspired by Bea’s strength but knows she will need encouragement at times. She thinks back to how much she needed support when she first became a mom. Before she crawls into bed she looks at the material she is going to share with Bea one more time.

One by One Ministries meets moms at the beginning of their journey, while they are still pregnant or soon after their baby is born. We see beautiful in all the hard work that Bea is putting into preparing to parent. We see beautiful as she pours herself into the new life she will share with the one she is bringing into the world.

At One by One, we see beautiful in the relationship of each new mom and her One by One mentor. Mentors are focused and purposeful with the mission of encouraging and educating moms to parent well.

Each month moms like Bea and mentors like Ashley meet face to face at coffee shops, parks, libraries, community centers or even in the mom’s living room. They laugh together and sometimes pray together. There are at times tears and hugs but always encouraging words.

Pregnancy milestones and infant development are discussed. Bea will learn about keeping her baby safe and healthy. They will cover topics like what postpartum depression and self-discipline look like. Ashley explains activities that will help Bea’s child develop language, social, cognitive and motor skills. Bea is her child’s first teacher. It is important for her son to be prepared for kindergarten so she is starting now.

As she is purposeful in these daily activities, she bonds with her baby, impacting him for years to come. There is a much to learn but each month Ashley and Bea will see beautiful in their time together.

Ashley emphasizes the importance of having a good relationship with her baby’s health care provider. There will be a lot of questions through the years that Bea will need to work through with the help of a doctor and his or her team. This mama is going to feel confident about keeping her son healthy. One by One sees beautiful when we see Bea and her child thriving.

One by One sees beautiful in first time moms and moms who are having a second or third little girl, moms who are single and moms who have a partner in parenting, moms who are working toward high-school graduation and moms pursuing a college degree.

Moms need encouragement, support and love. One by One has a team backing moms and mentors. We get to know the community and are equipped with resources to share with moms as they see beautiful in the life they created.

One by One loves and supports moms and we see beautiful.

Written by:

Cindy Grucholski

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