From Orphan to Mother: Our Team Helped Katya Step by Step.
“Please help this girl! She had a baby, but she doesn’t know how to hold it, when to feed it, or where to get a birth certificate. She knows nothing!”
This is the message our shelter worker received from the maternity ward of a Russian hospital. The sender was very concerned for 18-year-old Katya and the baby girl she’d had just days before.
Katya never had a motherly example. She had grown up in an orphanage, as had the young father of their newborn baby. Neither had any experience with parents who loved and nurtured them and now they found themselves responsible for their own daughter. Social workers and authorities were likely going to put the baby in alternative care when Katya left the hospital.
When Katya was discharged several days later, however, she was permitted to take baby Dasha with her to the one-room studio she and Dasha’s father shared.
Our family patrol team visited them and delivered a much-needed Babybox. After getting to know Katya a little better, our team offered her the opportunity to live at our shelter home with Dasha for support.
She accepted the invitation and moved in for three months. During her stay, we mentored Katya and helped her grow in motherhood skills so she could care well for Dasha.
The little girl grew, and her father got a job with a construction company. The family’s future began to look bright.
The day came when Katya and Dasha returned to their home. Our family patrol team visits them weekly. We also see them at church, which Katya began attending while living at the shelter home.
The small home of this young family is kept tidy. Katya has a children’s Bible on her bedside table. From her mother’s arms, Dasha observes the world with big beautiful eyes. Katya smiles; all is well now!
