Emotions are running high in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. Massive protests have swept the country in response to the decision, with thousands on both sides of the issue forcefully expressing their views.
Even before the final opinion — and following the leak of the draft decision last month — advocacy groups for and against abortion raised millions in anticipation of the ruling. Those offering abortion support saw an especially large increase in giving. NARAL Pro-Choice America had a 1,400 percent spike in donations, including its largest fundraising day in history. The Democratic fundraising platform, ActBlue, raised $12 million for abortion funds, reproductive justice groups, and candidates who support abortion rights.
As someone who leads an organization in the trenches with struggling families, I believe there is a better use for those funds. Shouting from the sidelines is not productive. It is acts of service that change lives and communities. Rather than continuing to pour dollars into advocacy efforts that don’t touch the lives of most people, philanthropy should increase support for charity groups tackling the realities families are facing now, including young mothers who choose life.
Millions of families are split apart each year by divorce and foster care. Few — if any — have identical challenges. They require fast, flexible, and personal solutions.
For some families, the struggle begins with losing a job. Others have unplanned medical emergencies, substance abuse, and mental health challenges or a combination of many underlying issues. All of them are young families and single parents who suffer alone with little or no social support.
Families struggling in America today have no use for another march on Washington over hot-button issues such as abortion. They need a local support system. I have seen this up close through the Florida nonprofit I run, Better Together.
Using a network of local volunteers, businesses, churches, and community leaders, we provide temporary homes to at-risk children while helping their parents find safe places to live, jobs, medical and addiction treatment, child care, transportation, and more.
Since our founding, we have provided safe temporary shelter for 3,400 children while empowering parents to turn their lives around. Using our approach, 98 percent of families are able to stay intact, requiring no further intervention from the state.
Most of the families referred to us come from child services and law enforcement. We also get referrals from pregnancy ministries that support young mothers who opt to give birth.
One of those women is Alyssa, who aged out of foster care and found herself pregnant at a young age. She was scared of parenting alone. A pregnancy resource center told her about our programs, and she reached out for help. We connected Alyssa with volunteers from a local church who walked alongside her every step of the way. They mentored and supported her before and after she gave birth, delivered meals and diapers, helped her find child care, open a bank account, and find a job with flexible hours.
They also engaged with and mentored the father, who is attending counseling with Alyssa as they work together toward a healthy co-parenting relationship for their beautiful baby girl. Alyssa keeps in touch with some of our volunteers, who have since become close friends and continue to give her support, advice, and encouragement on her new motherhood journey. They understand that long after mothers and families sign out of the maternity ward, they still require dependable and direct support from their local community.
Other nonprofits across the country, many of which are faith-based like ours, are certain to see increased need following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe. They are groups such as Hope Women’s Center in Phoenix, Ariz., which annually provides more than 1,200 vulnerable women with mentoring and support and runs a maternity home for young mothers. Organizations such as City Relief in Elizabeth, N.J., offer a range of services to families struggling with poverty and whose children need help and guidance. City Relief currently partners with more than 250 organizations and serves some 30,000 people each year.
These nonprofits are seeking more volunteers and churches to partner with them in these efforts. In the months and years ahead, philanthropy will be called upon to step up and lend a hand with far more resources.
Those we serve, 80 percent of whom are single mothers, do not have time to wait for sweeping reform that may never come or policies that change with the political winds. They are fighting to build a better future for their children in this moment, and we are in their corner rallying volunteers, businesses, and churches to stand with them.
Programs that offer direct support and services to families in immediate need can transform entire lives and communities. As both sides in the abortion debate continue shouting at each other, philanthropy should focus its attention on the local groups that are quietly getting the job done.
