CHARLOTTE — A ministry devoted to caring for parents who have received a “poor prenatal diagnosis” needs help to keep its mission alive.
Be Not Afraid began as a parish ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte in 2009 and has grown into a private non-profit organization that has assisted parents in 25 states. BNA has welcomed 142 babies, delivered despite challenging circumstances. They provide hospice support before and after a birth as well as comprehensive accompaniment to the parents, who have often been told by doctors to abort their unborn children rather than carry them to term because of the severe medical or genetic defects they have.
“All life is sacred and every child is a blessing,” says BNA co-founder Tracy Winsor, who with co-founder Sandy Buck developed a model of care for parents that respects the dignity of the unborn child and the needs and wishes of parents. “We offer parents an option other than abortion – to carry to term with comprehensive support that prepares them to welcome the baby God is sending.”
Volunteers themselves have experienced what these parents are going through – a diagnosis that their child probably will not survive once they are born.
Recognized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Bioethics Center, BNA’s model has been replicated in several other dioceses and BNA has supported parents in numerous states. In the past two years, they have also received calls for help from parents in other countries.
“This year we have supported parents not only in North Carolina, but also in Indiana, Iowa, California, Texas, Arizona, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Idaho,” Winsor notes. “This month we may be supporting six families carrying to term. We are also providing outreach for our families who have experienced a loss over the last 12 months, as well as those who have surviving babies. There are more than 20 of those families month to month.”
The ministry has been funded by parish baby bottle drives, in which people fill up new, empty baby bottles with loose change, as well as by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus and memorial donations. But funding has not been steady, Winsor says, not enough to meet the needs of the families they serve. BNA’s only ongoing parish support comes Our Lady of Grace Church in the Diocese of Charleston, S.C., which includes BNA in its weekly tithing collections.
“Our biggest challenge is that we do not have a source of annual ongoing funding upon which we can build the rest of our budget. We need about $25,000 annually to ensure that the ministry can continue to operate,” she explains.
While the ministry is grounded in Catholic teaching, it serves families of any faith background.
“If it was not for Be Not Afraid, I wouldn’t have gotten through such an experience,” says April McLean, mom to Amari, who was prenatally diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, causes severe developmental delays due to an extra chromosome. There is no treatment for the condition, and most babies are either stillborn or die within the first year of life.
BNA “made sure I was comfortable, and didn’t let me go through anything alone, and was there for me anytime I had questions or felt down,” McLean says.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
For more
At www.benotafraid.net: Learn more about Be Not Afraid and how to donate to the ministry