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WINCHESTER, VA, March 30, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley is home to numerous Crisis Pregnancy Centers, but for pregnant women who need a place to live, the area has long had only one maternity home to offer. When the home’s founder passed away suddenly a few years ago, a group of local pro-lifers came together to make sure that the needs of pregnant women in the area would not go unmet.

The newly founded New Eve Ministries is a testimony to the dedication of a local pro-life community that wants to make sure, in the words of President Bob Seale, that “we do everything we can to keep these women from aborting their babies.”

The Ministry got a financial jump-start with income generated from the sale of the former home, Chalet Magnificat in Front Royal. When the organization’s board found a new home on a quiet cul-de-sac in nearby Winchester, volunteers came out of the woodwork to prepare the home and provide furnishings.

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Ironically, the first baby saved by New Eve was born on January 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the notorious Supreme Court decision that threw open the doors to legal abortion in the United States.

Born unexpectedly at just 26 weeks gestation, the little girl was 1 pound 12 ounces at birth. Her mother is currently the only resident at the home, and has been showered with all the attention and care that local pro-lifers have to offer.

Volunteers have shuttled the young mother to and from the hospital, where the baby remains in the neo-natal intensive care unit. Other volunteers provide mentorship, teach life skill classes, prepare mailings, cut the grass, assist with home repairs, and provide numerous loving touches to the ministry.

The organization retains only one paid employee: a day time “house mother” who is present two to three hours a day. A local university student lives in as the nighttime “house mother.”

“A home like ours and others like it just show to the world that we not only support these babies and want these babies to live, but we support the mothers too. We’re so often accused of looking out for the babies and then forgetting about the moms,” reflected Bob’s wife, Joanne Seale, the Board secretary and an almost daily volunteer for the organization. “I think a home like ours is proof that that’s not the case at all.”

The home has seen a total of three women come through its doors since opening this past December. While two of them moved on before their babies were born, Joanne says she could see the impact that the ministry made.

One girl stayed only two weeks, she said, but related before leaving that her time there had made a big impression on her. We “helped her a lot to know where her priorities should be,” says Joanne.

While three is the max capacity for the small rental property, according to Bob, the Board has big plans for the future. They’re hoping to get a loan that would enable them to purchase the home, and eventually open more.

“We have seen that there is a big need for this type of thing,” he said.

“Most women, if they really searched their souls, would never want to abort their baby. I think the statistics would prove that the vast majority are pressured into in it in some way, shape or form,” Joanne added. “They just feel they don’t have any options, so we want to provide an option.”