Cradle of Hope celebrates a year of growth

MT. PLEASANT — Cradle of Hope shared details about its new Mother’s Home and a recap of activity from the last year at their annual fundraising banquet last weekend.

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In a room packed to the brim with supporters, Cradle of Hope Founder and Executive Director Peggy Knudsen shared a vision for “building a culture of not just life, but abundant life,” as she shared of successes for the pregnancy resource center over the last year.

“It has been a big year for Cradle,” Knudsen said. “It has exceeded our wildest dreams. It’s been amazing, really. It has been humbling and exhilarating, but it has not been without challenges.”

According to Knudsen in the last year Cradle of Hope became its own 501C3 charitable organization and stepped out from under the umbrella of Faith Christian Outreach Church. The Cradle offices were updated after 17 years.

As of the banquet, Cradle of Hope engaged in 3,386 client contacts and conducted 870 classes over the last year. Cradle also welcomed seven babies born to babies in the last three months.

Knudsen also excitedly shared that after two years of looking, Cradle of Hope finally opened a Mother’s Maternity Home.

“It was a long time coming and you know I wasn’t always patient,” Knudsen said.

According to Knudsen after putting offers in on five homes, they finally found a four-bedroom home with land to grow on which Cradle paid for in cash. The home officially opened in November and the first mother moved in, in December.

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Since mothers began to move in and use the home, it has welcomed five mothers, six babies, two pregnant mothers, and one delivery.

While Knudsen says she has seen a bit of a revolving door at the home so far, she has also already seen successes.

“Our first mama was a teenager,” Knudsen shared. “We said we weren’t going to take in teenagers, but we took in a teenager as a special situation. She didn’t have custody of her baby. She got custody of her baby because she moved into the home, and she worked on her GED. She did the program.”

“It took us a while with the help of the state and Cradle, and the help of Melissa [the house mother], and many many tears, she just got an apartment for her and her baby just last week,” Knudsen said.

Another victory Knudsen said came from a referral of a mother out of the Des Moines area. According to Knudsen, this woman was being pressured by her boyfriend to have an abortion. She did not have anywhere else to go.

During the blizzards that came through the state this past winter, this woman asked Cradle of Hope for help. When they couldn’t get to her, she ended up taking the first dose for a chemical abortion at the persuasion of her boyfriend.

She immediately called Knudsen and she jumped into action. With the help of many Cradle contacts and volunteers they brought the mother to Mt. Pleasant, got her the abortion reversal medication, and set her up at the Mother’s Home where she now resides with her current daughter and a healthy pregnancy.

“This girl, this mama, and saving that little baby’s life, and what it took to save that baby’s life,” Knudsen said. “That is our why. This is why we do it. This is why, if we don’t do anything else the rest of the year, we saved that baby.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com