Silent Auction
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“… to help a mother see her child take his/her first breath.” 18th11131333ththth AnAnAnnualAnAnnualnual SilentSilent & Live Auction Auction andandand Dinnerand Reception Dinner Reception November 15, 2014 October 26, 2019 The Crowne Plaza King of Prussia, Pennsylvania inside front cover - blank A Letter from our Founder Dear Donors, Thank you for coming and participating in this year’s Silent Auction. This year marks our 19th year of operation. This past year we saw the birth of many new babies and our centers growing into a vital part of the communities they are in. In Wayne where we did not have a director for almost 4 years, but we were able to finance the expenses of that center by having a Run for Life every year. We were able to offer the services to help a crisis pregnancy because we had trained advocates. This is the advantage of A Baby’s Breath - to be able to function through drastic changes in leadership. Now, after four years, we have the potential leadership established and a client base that is appreciative of our ability to sustain itself through the transition. We couldn’t do this without the amazing volunteers that we have. Our clients come from every walk of life. Just because a client is raised in an affluent home does not mean they will make the best choices. Our best advocates are the ones who have seen their children come through their own choices to become a better person. They offer non-judgmental support through the difficult challenge of evaluating one’s own personal mistakes and creating a new path. My first book called Creating Compassionate Places documents the history behind what it takes to start, grow and maintain a social service organization like A Baby’s Breath. We’ve applied the model to starting a home, creating a medical service and now are applying the model towards our Independence program which is geared to helping a select number of our clients achieve independence through lifestyle changes. All this we cannot do without your help, because we are totally dependent upon donor sup- port. Nothing comes from the government. We are free to practice our Christian faith with our clients; however, we provide free services to anyone of any faith. We are a 501(c)3 organization that is dedicated to serving God with a mission “…. to help a mother to see her child take his/ her first breath.” Thank you and God Bless, Karen Patota Founder and President About A Baby’s Breath A Baby’s Breath started as one crisis pregnancy center 19 years ago. We began with just offering baby items with a mission “…to help a mother to see her baby take his/her first breath.” After one year of operation, it became clear that our mission needed to include more than the mom and more than just the first breath. Over that past 19 years, we have helped over 5000 families with their crisis pregnancies before, during and after the first breath. We moved from our first center in Fairview Village to our Jeffersonville location in 2011. A larger space accommo- dated our first parenting and prenatal classes. We could then develop a system of distributing baby items that would teach our parents how to be responsible parents and to give them important information about safety, nutrition and budgeting. Our Baby Store program is the way that we draw our clients to the important services needed to transform their lives. This past year, our Jeffersonville center has provided 423 services of pregnancy counseling, prenatal/parent- ing classes, and material assistance to the 118 active clients. Our Natural Family Planning service is based here and is free for all engaged and married couples and now has a standing service at Jeffersonville on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. One center grew to three in 5 years. Our Collegeville center had Planned Parenthood as its neighbors until they closed, leaving our organization as the only one in the community devoted to helping moms, dads and families in crisis pregnancy. Our Collegeville center was the first to have an ultrasound machine. This past year, Collegeville has provided 130 services to 41 active clients including six moms who needed to see their babies before their first breath with our free ultrasound services. The center that is closest to many local colleges is our Wayne center. Our 14-year journey on the Main Line has seen the closing of a functioning Planned Parenthood less than a mile away. We have counseled college kids as well as residents of the community with post abortion counseling, crisis and chastity counseling, and job services. Our advocate staff has been restored and we are starting to see more clients. We paid for one client money to go back to real estate school and she is now in our Independence program. Another client was in an abusive situation and we are helping her to re-direct her and her child’s life towards a safe environment. Our fourth center in Warminster was always close to Planned Parenthood, but moving to our new location adjacent to the Planned Parenthood location had its challenges. Google maps pointed to our old address and our street address is the same as another location in a different city 20 minutes away, but we are now on the Google map points to us correctly and our advertising has paid off in having more clients finding our resource. We are currently serving 44 active clients with 112 services including five lifesaving ultrasound services. Our new space offers the room needed to conduct group parenting and prenatal classes where we can inform our clients about their developing children and group style classes teaching independence. Our first home in PHX opened in October of 2016. We were open for counseling since May of 2015, but this past year, 6 moms had a place to stay to work out the issues of their crisis pregnancy including homelessness We now have an amazing new advocate who is able to offer core services to our residents. We have the clients work on their credit report which is critical in finding independent housing. We paid for a client’s fee to attend Rachael’s Vineyard and for various expenses associated with leaving the home like paying for auto expenses, apartment deposits, and applications for voucher programs. It is our goal for our clients to leave our home understanding the principles of our faith to include living a Christian lifestyle. Our Independence program provides incentives for our Independence clients to get credits for actions taken like getting/maintaining a better job, finishing their education, staying clean. Our Independence program has disbursed critically needed funds for our clients who are achieving their goals and making significant progress in shaping the new direction of their lives. We currently have 3 clients in the Independence program. The Silent Auction proceeds go towards the shared costs of insurances, cell phones, and the consultant fees for our organization. Our budget is about $200,000.00 for providing our 210 core services, housing 6 clients, providing 10 free ultrasounds and supporting 3 Independence clients. All of this is possible because we operate with an almost all volunteer staff. If we had to pay for the delivery of all of our services, our budget would be well over $1,000,000. What we do is a testament to our faith and our witness to Life. We continue to exist because of donors like you who care enough about our mission to join us. Corporate Board Karen Patota, Founder & President Joseph Baldassari, Esq., Vice President Josh Patota, CFO Cathy Janoson, Treasurer Michael and Lisann Castagno Kate Chetta Maria Diesel Maryann McDonnell Susan McInerney Meghan Murane Brian Murphy Laura Napieralski Pete Rawson Dorothy Swedkowski Advisory Boards Spiritual Sister Paula Vandegaer Father McDonnell Medical Dr. Daniel Beninati Brandy Leopanto Dr. James Holstein Tara Figueroa Dr. Mark Silidker Anne Ruegner, Susan McInerney RN Dr. Donald Debrakeleer Joe Baldassari Angie Whitlock Dolores Baldassari RN Nancy Machon Michelle Kensey RN Business James White IV Interested in volunteering? Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected] or call any of our centers and click Option 6 A Baby’s Breath Tues 10 am – 12:30 pm Collegeville Wed 6 – 8:30 pm Center 78 Second Ave., Collegeville, PA 19426 610-489-0083 Director: Spiritual Director: Susan Grant Msgr. Michael McCulken Ac ng General Manager: Pre-Natal Class Nurse: Christopher Wentzel Karen Ferich RN Dona ons Coordinators: Hotline Cell Holder and Thom Mrazik US Intake Nurse: Susan McInerney Advocates: Mary Ann McDonnell, Susan McInerney RN, Pat McCaffrey, Susan Grant Paren ng Class Coordinator: OPEN Baby Store Coordinator: Ruth Lo us and Back-up Nancy Malecki Run for Life Team: Christopher Wentzel, Laurie Amway, Nikki , Allison Alejo Consider Volunteering! We are in need of: General Manager, Advocates, Run for Life Director, Paren ng Class Coordinator, Spanish and Arabic translators A Baby’s Breath Jeffersonville TuMon.es 9:30 6:30am - 8:30- 12:00 pm pm TuTue.es 6:30 9:30– am 9:0 - 0Noon pm Center Tue. 6:30 - 9:00 pm ThuThur. 9:30 9:30am am - 1 -2:00 Noon pm 2062 W. Main Street, Jeffersonville, PA 610-630-9630 Director: Consider Volunteering! Kate Chetta We are in need of: Baby Store Workers General Manager: RFL Volunteers Peter Rawson Advocates (Spanish & English) Donations Coordinator: Baby Store Coordinator Jodi Kohlar Spanish Translators Race Director: Advocates: Dorothy Swedkowski Pat Van Haute, Mary Eads, Linda Consider volunteering! Advena, Denise Zambrano, Pre-Natal Nurses: Maureen Bowen, Diane Harper, Dolores Baldassari,We are in RN n eed of: Patricia Quayle, Shainna Young, Nancy Machon Baby Store Coordinators: Baby Store Workers Parenting Class Coordinator: Lorrie Clare, MariLou Pederson, KarenB ackRiedlmeierup Donations CoordinatorMaria Barone Housing Board: Rachael Lipscomb Janet Mancini Nancy Machon Penny Pavucek Pete Rawson Financial Board: Chuck Liebold Tim Michel Doug Paida A Baby’s Breath Phoenixville Center 610-933-5182 152 Church Street Director: The Phoenixville Rachael Lipscomb Center is the only General Managers: ABB that is able to offer safe shelter for Tim Michel mothers and babies in Chuck Liebold their greatest time of Donations Coordinator: need.