ST. MARY'S HOMES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 158, 6 July 1937, Page 12

ST. MARY'S HOMES.

A Wonderful Work For Girls and Children.

The annual Winter Fair in aid of the St. Mary's Homes, Otahuhu, arranged by the St. Mary's Monies Association and the ladies of various parishes, is another opportunity- whereby practical sympathy and support can be given to the work of th e St. Mary's Hornet. For i>3 years the Church has provided these homes of refuge for unmarried expectatnt mothers of all denominations. Here they receive the sympathetic help they are so much in need of. in spirit, mind and body, together with the best of medical attention and nursing. Many of those who come to the homes have been denied real home life by reason of the divorce of their parents, or they have lost their own mothers when they wore joung. Others have been brought up in hornet in which the wi#o counsel and guidance of a Christian home lias been absent. In a word, many have been more sinned against than sinning, and the work of the homes, therefore, is deserving of most generous support and eo-opera-tion. A work of national importance is being done in saving young women from lives of *h<ime and leading them into the paths of virtue and good citizenship. The majority of the girls leave the home with a new outlook and become upright and good citizens. Furthermore, in these days, when there is so much concern about declining birthrate, each life saved represents new national assets, and those who have seen the babies will realise how healthy most of them are. The homes seek in a home atmosphere to restore the spirits, minds and bodies of those who come to dwell there. Girls must stay at least six months after the birth of a child, and this rule provides the opportunitv for the influence of the home to be realised. It has always been a struggle to keep the doors of the home open, particularly during the last few years. The income of the home is over £.'SOO per annum below the amount required, and thU Winter Fair, which takes pUiee in the Town Hall Concert Chamber tomorrow, has been arranged for the purpose of meeting some of these expenses, and therefore it is worthy of the support of all citizens. The Mayoress. Lady Davis, will perform the opening in the morning.