While she has heard many stories of young women facing crisis pregnancies, Sonya Flomo remembers one in particular: A young college student was considering an abortion, the choice she believed everyone from her friends to family members thought best. But she really wanted the child, Flomo said, and to continue her studies.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Life Fund provided financial assistance to the woman, which alleviated some of the pressure of not being able to pay her rent, and to continue her studies and her pregnancy. Which she did, Flomo said.
The grant paid for two months of rent “which gave her that little push to keep going forward,” Flomo said. “And she did have her baby. She had a little boy, and she named him Joseph, and they’re thriving and striving today.”
Flomo, the Life Fund grants administrator in the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss the fund, which has been in place since 1990, and how it helps women in crisis pregnancies choose life.
Finances can play a large part in the decision to have an abortion, Flomo said, so those who started the fund wanted to help enable women to “make the choice to carry their child and raise their child with the dignity that they both deserve.”
Many calls for assistance are from people needing just one month’s rent, Flomo said. Other calls come from “life care centers,” she said, and sometimes from hospital social workers.
Occasionally, new moms helped by the fund send photos of their babies to Flomo’s office. “We just know that what we did at the moment, we really helped that person,” she said. “And that’s enough … to carry us through.”
To learn more about pro-life resources, the Life Fund and to donate, visit archspm.org/life, which also includes a video of Flomo describing the fund. Those interested can also make a tax-deductible donation directly here or by mailing a check to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Attn: Life Fund, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN, 55106.
The archdiocese is committed to being good stewards of donors’ funds, Flomo said. “One hundred percent of every donation goes to the moms and babies,” she said.
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Jan. 13 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Jan. 14 and 2 p.m. Jan. 15.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Robert and Tami Erisman, parishioners of St. Mark in Ham Lake, who, accompanied by their eight children, have served people in the Amazonian region of Peru for four years; and Bob Swift from St. Gabriel Holy Land Pilgrimages, who describes an upcoming pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
