Hi! My name is Gemma, and I am the single mother to my beautiful daughter Josephine.
2021 was the hardest and most beautiful year of my life. I found out I was pregnant at 17 while trying to get out of an unhealthy relationship. My pro-life values were tested. It took all my courage to face this huge reality and change in my life. But the challenge didn’t stop there. A few months later I lost the father to suicide and had to navigate this added, horrific situation, accompanied by guilt, shame and regret. Thankfully, giving birth to my baby girl was such an amazing gift. Having Josephine was the biggest blessing in my life, but it has also been the hardest adventure I have ever had to undertake. Becoming a single teen mom has been scary, parenting alone is exhausting, navigating the realities of choosing life is not easy.
These challenges have brought me to my knees and into a deep encounter with God's mercy. My beliefs have been tested, my relationship with Jesus has been tested, but through it all Jesus was and continues to be victorious. I have been radically transformed; my faith is stronger than ever!! Having touched such intense pain and been carried through, I am now confident in God's plan for me and I daily seek to surrender everything to him. I know that He is a good Father and will carry Jo and I through whatever rough waters still lie ahead.
My daughter is almost two years old now, and for a little over a year I have been working for the beautiful ministry of The Avodah Collective, which is a non-profit that provides healing and restoration for women survivors of sex-trafficking and their children. Getting to serve vulnerable women and be a part of the important fight against human trafficking has had a profound impact on me and opened my eyes to a world of hurt that so desperately needs the love and mercy of Jesus.
Through my own journey and through my work with survivors, my passion for the pro-life movement has increased. I desire so much to bring hope to women and to walk alongside them as they battle the sometimes very hard realities of choosing life.
I have now been called into a new chapter of life and have left Avodah. As I move forward, I am excited to grow as a woman, to keep learning how to be a good mother and to continue to spread my story and help bring hope to women around the nation. I am excited to work with AromaRosary (aromarosary.com) to provide support for pro-life ministries and to spread my love of the rosary with others. I invite you to come along with me and to continue to help support my daughter and I as we serve the Lord through this work.
As I continue my journey as a single mother, your continued support means the world to me. I am so grateful to the Christian Non-profit EquipNet who will now be helping me manage all my donations. My goal is a consistent $3,000 a month which will go towards living expenses, childcare, food, gas, insurance, some MAJOR automotive needs, etc. All donations go directly to me except for the minimal processing fees.
Again, I am so incredibly grateful to each of you who has come alongside me. I will be praying for you, and I thank you so much for choosing to help me continue to choose life and share my mission with others.
Gemma