Mercy Moment

Helping New Mothers Succeed

Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries’ maternity home in East Dundee, Ill., provides for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of new mothers.

Story by Megan K. Mertz | Photography by Erik M. Lunsford | Spring 2026

When Simone* came to Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries’ (RLOM) maternity home in East Dundee, Ill., in October 2025, she didn’t know what to expect. There was so much to learn, so much to do and so many people to meet. But she was committed to making it work for her daughter, who was due in just two months.

“I had the idea that I wanted to give my baby a different life,” she said. “But I didn’t know what that life looked like. I didn’t know how to get there or what steps to take.”

In just a few months, she has learned so much. Every week, she meets with RLOM staff to discuss parenting, finances, her career path and more. She also attends worship, Bible study and new member classes with fellow resident Grace* and Grace’s infant son at nearby Immanuel Lutheran Church each week.

Deaconess Sarah Rusche, who served as program manager at the maternity home from 2024 until late 2025, said that the care the program provides to new mothers in need is “very holistic, because you bring your whole self here. So, we want to support all of those things.”

This care also is hands-on for Rusche and “house mom” Edna Parker, who brings to the role her own experience as a single mother. They have daily opportunities to cuddle newborns and have deep conversations with residents. At Grace’s request, Parker was even there for the baby’s birth, standing in for Grace’s mother, who lives in Vietnam and could not attend.

Redeeming Life’s one-year program is designed to set up new mothers for success. The program is free for residents, which allows them to save money — or pursue the necessary education to get a job — so they can buy a car or put down a deposit on an apartment at the end of the year.

Church attendance is a big part of the program. Although neither Simone nor Grace had ever been to a Lutheran church before, they both spoke positively about Immanuel. Grace comes from a Buddhist background, so the whole experience was new for her.

“Going to the service and Bible study definitely was overwhelming [at first],” said Grace, “but the people are very loving and kind. … Now it’s something that I look forward to on Sunday, not just to be out of the house, but actually to be there with the community.”

Immanuel serves as the host congregation for the maternity home, but Rusche estimates that at least 40 LCMS congregations support the home in some way. A number of these have received matching grants for this effort through LCMS Life Ministry. Immanuel also has a group of dedicated laypeople who sit with the residents at church, drive them to work or appointments as needed, complete maintenance tasks around the home, donate baby items for the home’s basement “boutique,” and more.

After being surrounded by love at RLOM, Grace became interested in learning more “about the Father that I didn’t know I have.” At the time this article was written, she had recently asked to be baptized.

The East Dundee home is RLOM’s second location. Its original home in Sanford, Fla., opened in 2013. A few years later, in 2019, RLOM Executive Director Sheryl DeWitt was invited to meet with a group in the LCMS Northern Illinois District that was interested in starting a similar program. Eventually, DeWitt and the district decided to partner to replicate the model in East Dundee.

RLOM purchased the home from Immanuel, and after a full renovation, the maternity home opened in May 2023. Since then, nine residents have come through its doors. So far, only one has completed the full program. She now lives on her own in the area and remains connected both to her friends at Redeeming Life and to a nearby Hispanic LCMS congregation, which she joined while at RLOM and where her son was later baptized.

It’s an intensive and challenging ministry, said DeWitt. “When someone decides to leave [before finishing the program], it is so discouraging in that moment.” But then “God blesses you so deeply” as a child is born and baptized or the Gospel is shared with someone who has never heard it before.

“At the end of the day,” DeWitt said, “it’s all about bringing people to Jesus.”

* The residents’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.

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Read a past Engage story about Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries

Megan K. Mertz

Managing editor of Lutherans Engage the World and chief copy editor for LCMS Communications.