After all, she had just recently lost her job at a bank and had two other children.
So, Stokes, 30, decided to have an abortion and set out to go to an abortion clinic on Southfield Road.
When she saw a sign for Problem Pregnancy Center on Southfield south of 10 Mile Road, she thought it was another abortion clinic and might be cheaper than the one further up the road, and decided to check it out.
But instead of an abortion clinic, it turned out to be a place that would work with her to overcome some of the obstacles she faced and enable her to carry her baby to term.
“I met Michelle (Schmidt, director of client services) first thing, and she didn’t have an issue with being transparent about what they were about. But my whole issue at the time was how was I going to take care of this baby?” Stokes recalls.
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Schmidt and other center staff worked with her, for example, helping her to get unemployment compensation, which her former employer had tried to deny her. They also helped with many other pre- and post-natal needs.
Stokes also began attending the classes taught at the center, which deal with such matters as parenting and sexual morality from a Catholic perspective.
“I found that God is a very good provider. Everything I couldn’t do, I’ve been able to do,” she said during a recent visit to the offices of Mother and Unborn Baby Care, which sponsors the ProblemPregnancyCenter.
Stokes said the way she was treated by Schmidt and others at the center made a big difference. “Everything she did: Michelle hugged me; she told me she loved me; she didn’t treat me like a person with leprosy,” Stokes recalled.
“They made me feel cared about, without having to give anything in return,” she continued.
As Stokes held baby Kenneth in her lap, she said she is so happy about making that “mistake” and coming to the Problem pregnancy Center.
“If it hadn’t been for that, I would have had an abortion. Knowing what I know now — knowing all the health risks, the risk of breast cancer and the mental health issues — I would never have one,” she added.
The work of Mother and Unborn Baby Care is a mission for those who work and volunteer there. Schmidt knows personally the sorrow of having had an abortion.
“When I was 18, I was in the same situation as many of our clients, and I made the wrong decision. I lost 10 years of my life trying to recover,” she said.
Peter Riccardo, the organization’s executive director. Riccardo, a member of St. Daniel Parish in Clarkston, took the position last year after being laid off from a position in the automotive industry.
“I believe God led me here. I’m a member of the Knights of Columbus, and I was attracted to the Knights largely because of their position on life. I see this job as just the culmination of everything I’ve wanted to do,” said Riccardo.
Mother and Unborn Baby Care was founded going on 28 years ago by Mike and Peggy O’Dea, who continue their involvement.
“God has really blessed this organization and the people who work here,” Mike O’Dea said.
Thanks to a generous donor, the organization now occupies a substantial two-story building, every bit of which is in use — as officies, consultation rooms, classrooms, a chapel and storage areas.
