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With Mother’s Day being this weekend, I headed over to Maggie’s Place - a partner of Waste Not's for many years now, to interview a couple of moms. Maggie’s Place provides safe housing, counseling, parenting classes, self-care classes, educational programming, and more.
I visited one of their newer homes - the Gabriel House that opened in 2023 and I was able to sit down and chat with two remarkable moms: Maggie and Megan. Their stories are not just tales of struggle, but testimonies of courage, perseverance, and the transformative power of community support.
Maggie's journey began in the midst of unstable housing, a situation she had been grappling with for four long years. When she found herself pregnant, the uncertainty of her living conditions only amplified her worries. She discovered Maggie's Place on subreddits and reached out via Messenger on Facebook. Within 24 hours she started the intake process and moved into the Gabriel House during her third trimester at the beginning of 2024.
“Maggie’s Place is such a great program,” says Maggie. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity - and they will work with you, if you work with them.”
Similarly, Megan was facing the daunting prospect of homelessness when she was pregnant- which was a surprise to her as she was told she could not have children. She was working door-to-door for a company and living under company housing. When she became pregnant she could no longer do her job and her rent was raised. Through a co-worker who happened to be a Maggie’s Place alumna, Megan was able to learn more about the nonprofit and move into the Gabriel House of Maggie’s Place in August of 2023.
What sets Maggie's Place apart is its holistic approach to support. Beyond providing basic necessities, the organization is invested in empowering mothers to pursue their dreams and aspirations. Both Maggie and Megan have found solace in the opportunity to continue their education while being surrounded by an environment that prioritizes their well-being.
“We get a lot of help from the AmeriCorps members. They are super helpful if I need to shower or cook - they can hold my baby or really help me have some space to what I need to do,” says Megan. “And we have a lot of fun here at Maggie’s Place. We have an outing every month. Last month, we went to the zoo and I got to take my daughter with me.”
The support doesn't end there. Organizations like Waste Not play a crucial role in ensuring that families at Maggie's Place have access to nutritious food. With over 13,000 pounds of supplemental food delivered within the last year, Waste Not is helping alleviate the burden of food insecurity, allowing mothers like Maggie and Megan to focus on their children and themselves.
“Waste Not provides a lot of nutrients to us as postpartum moms. We get access to a lot of variety of fruit and vegetables. We do a lot of cooking here and are even considering making our own baby food,” says Maggie. “And when we switch to solids for the kids - Waste Not will definitely help with that.”
As we approach Mother's Day, let's take a moment to honor the resilience of mothers everywhere. Let's celebrate organizations like Maggie's Place and partners like Waste Not, whose unwavering dedication makes stories of triumph possible.
To support the food that these mom’s receive on a weekly basis, donate to Waste Not and help moms in Arizona flourish.
To read the full interviews with Maggie and Megan, click below:
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