The MISSION of “In Our Blessed Mother’s Arms” (IOBMA) Pregnancy Resource Center is: “to provide the support, resources, one-on-one help and prayers to make sure that pregnant women-in-need can safely experience childbirth and then securely and confidently meet all the challenges and obligations associated with caring for a child and raising a loving family.”
IOBMA’s Outreach Program stresses 2 major commitments to action:
- To present Our Lord’s Pro-Life message to pregnant women-in-need through reverent, public prayer service together with an ongoing sidewalk presence outside the largest Abortion Clinic in Connecticut located on Whitney Avenue in New Haven; and,
- To maintain a grassroots Outreach Program that brings the Pro-Life message that “All Life is Sacred” directly into the neighborhoods and homes of pregnant women-in-need, especially those living in Connecticut’s inner cities.
IOBMA’s primary service area is centered in Greater New Haven, including East and West Haven, and also includes caring for families living in Hamden, Wallingford, New Britain, Meriden and Waterbury. All totaled, IOBMA currently provides ongoing services to 42 families, including pregnant women, new mothers and their babies and their immediate families. Additionally, the Center receives referrals to provide help to new mothers-to-be and their families every week!
IOBMA understands that for certain women, having, supporting and caring for a child is not easy; it is a life-changing responsibility that never ends! Having a baby, becoming a parent and raising a child into adulthood is one of the, if not THE MOST demanding, stressful and important responsibilities of a mother (and father) in her/his lifetime. Tragically, for some women, for many reasons, especially if they are pregnant and alone, the prospect of going through 9 months of pregnancy, giving birth and then caring for their child every hour of every day FOREVER can be a daunting and overwhelming prospect, prompting a visit to Planned Parenthood to have an abortion and terminate their baby’s life. That is the reason IOBMA’s was founded by Ivana Solsbery and that is why the Center’s Outreach Program was created. Ivana wanted to make sure that pregnant women-in-need, mothers struggling with newborn babies, families experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, teens and young women with so many questions and few good answers, and young men unprepared for fatherhood, are presented with other “Life” options; and that every pregnant woman has someone to talk to about the viable alternatives to abortion, to listen to their problems and concerns, and to help provide the needed direction, assistance and support services necessary to continue as “Mother and Baby.” IOBMA’s volunteers DO NOT JUDGE the pregnant women asking for help. It is our MISSION to provide the help and assistance to support Our Father’s unconditional love for all His Children through the Center’s Outreach Program.
Women-in-crisis come to IOBMA in different ways: referrals from other agencies, word-of-mouth from friends and family members who have previously used our services and from reading one of our Brochures placed in different locations throughout Towns and Cities. Since we opened in August 2014, the IOBMA’s office at 340 Whitney Avenue in New Haven has scheduled office hours every week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10:00a.m.-3:00p.m. However, we can be reached and are available to talk to and meet with pregnant women-in-need anytime 24/7. The Office phone number with an answering machine is 203-777-0070. After-hours calls are answered by Director Solsbery herself 24/7/365; that number is 203.886.6736. In addition, the Center can be reached by email at:baby@blessedmotherarms.com. One can also find information about IOBMA on the Web at: inourblessedmothersarms.com. Director Solsbery and the Center volunteers return all calls and emails made to IOBMA as soon as possible.
IF THEY CAN’T COME TO US, WE WILL GO TO THEM!
IOBMA’s Executive Director Ivana Solsbery uses her 18+ years of Pro-Life experiences and contacts to work together with other caring individuals, local churches, neighborhood leaders, non-profit and faith-based organizations and area community groups to provide the information, education and support that women need when they become pregnant. Director Solsbery counts nationally known Birth Right of Meriden/Wallingford and Little Miracles of Branford, CT among her “go-to” Pro-Life network contacts for referrals, support and baby supplies. Director Solsbery firmly believes that in order to end the scourge of abortion on the most innocent and defenseless of God’s creations, not only is it imperative to support pregnant women-in-need through the birth of their baby, but it is just as important to stay in contact and continue to be part of the mother’s and baby’s lives going forward, and to help families when needed, in order to support and strengthen the Pro-Life commitment from generation-to-generation.
To fulfill their MISSION and continue their Outreach Program, IOBMA relies on the generosity of private, Pro-Life donors and some religious organizations. The Center also conducts ‘Baby Bottle’ and Diaper Drives through a few dedicated lay groups, businesses, churches and schools and is always looking for volunteers to help out. The Center has a relatively small monthly budget considering what the volunteers accomplish every day, every week and every month throughout the year. The Center’s office is located right across the street from Planned Parenthood’s (PP) New Haven Abortion Clinic. Every Wednesday and Friday morning, rain or shine, summer and winter, spring and fall, while doctors perform abortions inside, Director Solsbery and a dedicated group of Pro-Life supporters can be found on the sidewalk outside the PP building reverently praying the Rosary while offering Our Lord’s “Alternative of Life” to the pregnant women arriving to abort their babies. Saving an unborn baby’s life is a constant battle against the killing evil of abortion.
Through the Center’s Outreach Program of prayer, understanding and help, In Our Blessed Mother’s Arms is bringing Our Lord’s message of “Love and Life” directly to the pregnant women-in-crisis considering an abortion, and to the new mothers, babies, fathers and other family children who need help the most, from one generation to the next.