Volunteer Perspective: Finding Hope
It’s Tuesday afternoon and I am standing on the step in front of 3807 Lancaster Avenue. Lovely window boxes filled with colorful Spring flowers grace the front of the brick building that stands out against a sometimes neglected neighborhood. Here things are difficult. Many are too busy fighting the darkness to take the time to plant flowers.
As I stand on the front step of AlphaCare, I strain to see through the glass door. The small waiting room is usually peaceful but today it is bustling with activity. As I enter, I am greeted by smiles and women holding babies. Strollers and baby seats are scattered throughout the main floor. Today is the once a month Mom’s Group where young mothers from the community are embraced by AlphaCare and provided with free lunch and babysitting. They do an activity together. Sometimes it is a craft and sometimes they go on a field trip. The planned discussions are directed and are centered around much-needed topics such as relational issues and parenting.
As I climb the stairs to the second floor, I hear laughter. The laughter grows louder as I near the room at the end of the hall. I see through an open door that there is a small room that is filled with women pressing against each other shoulder to shoulder. The room is filled with laughter and the joy of this community is quite clear. Conversations are real and the friendships deep. It is during these times that AlphaCare, represented by seasoned staff members, shepherd these young moms, tenderly befriend them and guide them based on the wisdom found in Scripture.
As my volunteer work began that afternoon, a grandmother of one of the young mothers stepped into our workroom. It was evident she had something that she wanted to share with the leadership at AlphaCare. Her name was Patricia and she was eager to share what was on her heart. She proceeded to tell us about her granddaughter; a story that closely resembled her own.
Patricia’s granddaughter spoke often of AlphaCare and begged her to come with her. “This place means so much to her!” She explained, “You see my granddaughter is a very depressed person. Her family has been very gravely concerned for her but here, she has found strength and belief. Her baby means the world to her!” Patricia continued by describing the youth in the area saying that there are so many young people who don’t want to go on with life and are committing suicide. “But I know my granddaughter, being in this program, you see,” and she paused and her voice lowered and she said, “she’s going to make it. She needs to be around people who lift her up and she has found it here!”
As a weekly volunteer at AlphaCare, I saw once again how this place is offering hope to young mothers surrounded and sometimes nearly swallowed by the darkness. Before my very eyes had sat a woman who had had her own struggles with depression in her child-rearing years and now her granddaughter faced similar desperation and hopelessness. It is here that AlphaCare is making a difference by reaching needy and desperate lives and extending the hope of Christ and love to those who so desperately need it. “If I was having babies again,” Patricia said, “I would be pounding the door down to get into this place. From what I can see, they need this establishment!” she said, “And I hope you all can keep this place going!”
While Philadelphia abortion rates and poverty are higher than in most places in the country, AlphaCare is extending hope, they are saving lives and they are making a difference one mom (and blooming window box) at a time.