His Resting Place aids moms, babies

Someday, when little Garrett — now just under 3 months old — is old enough, his mother will tell him the special story of his birth.

“I’ll tell him his mother had some ups and downs, that I hit some bumps in the road, but with the grace of God, I made it out alive and very grateful,” said Mary.

Mary was a recent guest at His Resting Place, Luzerne County’s only maternity home, where pregnant woman are given a helping hand so that they and their babies have a second chance at a good start.

His Resting Place is one of eight nonprofit organizations being featured in this year’s Times Leader Giving Guide. The Times Leader is publishing eight stories, starting today and continuing through the next week, about area organizations that help our community.

These organizations rely on grants and donations and face reduced funds and possible cuts in services due to the trying economic times. Readers are encouraged to learn about the organizations and their needs and consider remembering the organization or organizations of their choice with a donation during this holiday season.

The Times Leader is using first names only for the moms and babies to protect their privacy and safety. Some, like Mary, came to His Resting Place to escape domestic violence. Others are just down on their luck, homeless or staying with friends in accommodations that are less than ideal for an expectant mom.

Still others are sent there by the court and will serve out their sentence while learning the skills needed to make a new life for their children.

“This started because at The Ark in Kingston, we saw 80 to 100 pregnant women or women with children under 1 year of age every week. We identified seven women in the county jail who were pregnant with nowhere to go when they got out. We tried to find places for them to go, but there really wasn’t anywhere in Luzerne County,” said John Plucenik, co-director of His Resting Place.

Need, help come together

At the same time Plucenik and his wife and co-director, Petra, were identifying the need for a home for pregnant women, Juanita Sarnak was at a crossroads. After 29 years providing personal-care services for the elderly, Sarnak found herself wanting a change.

Her husband, Danny, had passed away suddenly, making care for the elderly a challenge. But she had a home with eight bedrooms and a heart with even more room for people in need.

“Juanita has a strong heart for the Lord,” said John Plucenik. “She stepped forward and said there will be room in my home for your program.”

“I’m a caregiver. I’ve been a caregiver my whole life,” said Sarnak. “It felt like God really opened the door for this. These girls would have no place to go.”

Instead of being caretaker of the elderly, she became “house mom” to young pregnant women needing a new start.

In the two years since His Resting Place opened, eight women and their children have found a safe home, and rooms are being prepared to house more. Organizations “adopt” rooms, providing funds to decorate and furnish the bedrooms into cozy, welcoming spaces.

Each has a bed with custom-made bedding to match draperies, decorations and wall treatments, many done by a decorator who Petra Plucenik said works wonders with the small amounts of money she is given. A dresser, changing table and a crib, cradle or bassinet complete rooms that are worthy of any home decorating magazine.

Each room also features a quote from Scripture conveying a message to the new mom from donors. While no particular denomination or church is endorsed, attending a church of their choice is a requirement of the His Resting Place program.

“Church participation is very important part of the community and an extension of the support group for these women,” Petra Plucenik said. “We’re trying to change a mindset of ‘gimme, gimme, gimme,’ and change that to ‘How can I give back?’ because that is so much more rewarding,” said John Plucenik.

“This is not a shelter — we’re a program,” said Petra Plucenik. “Before we accept a woman, she has to be a willing participant and make a decision to follow the policies.” That includes mandatory programs that help them learn how to cook, breastfeed and make baby food.

They are also taught budgeting, parenting and childcare skills, and other things they will need to know to succeed once they meet the ultimate program goal: moving into their own furnished apartment and providing for their child.

“It’s a community project and the community benefits,” said Petra Plucenik. By encouraging self-sufficiency and giving new mothers the medical care they need to have healthy children and the skills they need to provide and care for that child, there is less need for social services in the future.

Even sentencing pregnant women to the home instead of the county jail saves money, she said, noting she has heard it costs $82 a day plus close to $10,000 in health care costs to incarcerate a pregnant woman and another $28 a day for foster care if an infant is taken away.

“We save all of that. When one person wins, we all win,” said Petra Plucenik.

Making the most of a chance

The two women most recently in the home agreed. Though she has since moved in to her own apartment — with the assistance of the home and its donors — Mary said she would have had a hard time making it without the support she received. “I came here in my last trimester and had my son two weeks later. I was relieved and felt a sense of security to know there was an agency that understood my needs, my goals and my aspirations.” With the help of His Resting Place, Mary was able to obtain prenatal care and was able to be tended to quickly when her blood pressure spiked and she needed an emergency C-section. Though she has family, they would have been too far away to be there for the birth. Instead, it was Sarnak who held her hand and even cut the cord when little Garrett was born. “I would have been there alone if it wasn’t for her,” Mary said.

A social worker by trade, Mary will soon be back to work and will even volunteer at His Resting Place, helping other women do their resumes. It’s her way of giving back.

“Words can’t express my thanks for their kindness,” she said. “There are no conditions — it’s unconditional love here. But it’s tough love. Things weren’t handed to me. They don’t do it for you; they show you how and help you do it.”

For another young mom, Stephanie, His Resting Place is a new beginning. Her past included rough times and things she wanted to get away from once she became pregnant with Gianna, now about 2 months old.

“I wanted to turn my life around. I wanted to change and I came here. They’ve helped me get everything situated.” After Gianna was born, there was help studying for her graduation equivalency diploma, or GED, and with the many necessities a new baby needs.

“Without this place, I’d be a mess — I’d be in jail or I wouldn’t be alive,” Stephanie said. “I have such a different outlook on life. I know I’ll be more responsible, a lot happier than I once was and I’ll be a better mom to my little girl. I’ll just be a better person.”

Mary agreed. “I came here with nothing and I’m leaving with new skills, a new apartment and the things I need to care for my son,” she said. “If there are people willing to give a monetary donation, cribs, Pack and Plays, diapers or maternity clothes for this place, the need is so great. And you can really help a mom and her baby.”