At 8 years old, Anne Ricci, the director of client services for Guiding Star Wakota — a pregnancy resource center in West St. Paul — attended a pro-life rally with her parents. Seeing the signs at the rally alluding to abortion deeply affected Ricci.
“As a child, I just remember being heart-stricken,” Ricci said in an episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show set to air at 9 p.m. June 27 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. “Even as a child, like, ‘I don’t understand how this could happen’ and it struck me. … Then after I got married, I wanted to be pregnant and have kids, start a family and it really struck me in my heart that I wanted to reach out to women who maybe were in a spot where they were pregnant and not wanting (a child). They’re not ready for the pregnancy.”
In her early 20s, Ricci began volunteering as a receptionist and a counselor at Guiding Star Wakota.
“A lot of them (pregnant women) coming in for the pregnancy test were at that crossroads of ‘What do I do?’” Ricci said. “(Hearing) their stories and the heart-wrenching situations that they were in and this very difficult decision of what to do next … (I) felt that was something that I was called to do, to meet them at that spot, meet them where they’re at and just to be a support for them in the start of this journey.”
As a mom herself, Ricci said that becoming a mother is one of the most life-changing occurrences that can happen. This news can come with joy, sorrow, fear and other emotions, Ricci said.
“To sit with women in those moments and help them think clearly and see what it is they really want to do and guide them towards choosing life for their little one is something that has just continued to fulfill me in this role,” Ricci said.
For 15 years, Ricci volunteered once a week, and then she was hired as a client advocate. Currently, Ricci is managing Guiding Star Wakota’s programs and meeting with clients for pregnancy tests. She also is a life coach and teaches parenting classes.
Ricci said that when she was 21, a client came into Guiding Star Wakota intending to have an abortion. Ricci sat with the woman for an hour and a half, but ultimately the woman decided to get an abortion. Ricci doubted herself, thinking she could have done more.
“I’ll never forget talking with our director on the phone and he just kept saying, ‘You put it in the hands of God. You did what you could. You put it in the hands of God,’” Ricci said. “And she came back the following Monday … right after Christmas. And she came back to our center. I wasn’t there. But she told our director, ‘I want you to let the counselor that I talked with know that I’ve decided to keep this baby.’”
To hear more from Ricci about her 25 years with Guiding Star Wakota, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. June 28 and 2 p.m. June 29.
Also on the program, Deacon Kris Ringwall of St. Patrick in Oak Grove shares how he sees a connection between God and the planet. And Sarah Kostick, a parishioner of St. Paul in Ham Lake, shares what it means to have a virtuous friendship.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
