AWARD WINNING COUNTRY MUSIC STAR, COLLIN RAYE, TO PERFORM AT FIVE DC PRO LIFE EVENTS

Cincinnati, OH:  Cradle Concepts announces today that award winning country music superstar Collin Raye will perform at 5 highlight pro-life events on the eve of this year’s March for Life.  Raye will perform before 2000+ college age students at the annual and sold out Students for Life of America (SFLA) Conference and then play later in the evening at a fundraising event for the Paul Stefan Foundation, which provides and sustains maternity homes for pregnant women in the mid-Atlantic region.  On the 23rd Raye will also speak and perform at Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and end his day by singing at the National Prolife Youth Rally.

“I am honored, blessed and thrilled to perform at these events.  Students for Life of America represent the new energy and vision that is born of a generation that has embraced the reality that one third of their friends, brothers, and sisters have been lost to abortion.  These college students will change the entire country with their pro-life witness and determination”, Raye said.

“I also look forward to meeting and performing for the pro-life heroes who support and work for the Paul Stefan Foundation and their maternity homes. Every day these folks give love and attention to pregnant women in need, many of who have been abandoned or left alone to have their babies. What courage these women and the employees of the Paul Stefan Foundation have in celebrating and preserving life,” Raye continued. “What they are doing is the wave of the future:  saving one mother, one baby at a time,” he added.

After the death of his 10 year old granddaughter, Haley, just over a year ago Raye stepped forward to speak out about the value of every human life.  He recently released a new inspirational CD, His Love Remains (hisloveremains.com) featuring two new and very powerful songs with strong pro-life themes, along with acclaimed spiritual hymns, which Raye performs with tremendous passion and beauty. He has been seen in the press speaking out to protect life at all stages through his affiliation with Terri’s Schiavo’s Life and Hope Network and has publicly  identified “rationed health care” as a ticket to an accelerated death for the weak and terminally ill.

Cradle Concepts is a marketing company representing family-focused entertainers and educators. Co- Founder and V.P, Jenn Giroux, a long time pro-life activist and nurse, says her company seeks to raise awareness for the need to protect life at all stages and to help these organizations through well known personalities and celebrities, to celebrate, honor, and defend those on the front lines in the battle for the culture.

“Cradle Concepts (cradleconcepts.com) is so proud to bring Collin Raye to these wonderful pro-life events. It is a key part of our mission to connect Mr. Raye and other pro-life celebrities with grassroots activists who, every day, work tirelessly in defense of life,” says Giroux.

Students for Life (studentsforlife.org) has affiliates on over 675 college and university campuses throughout the United States.  2000 students are expected to attend this year’s SFL conference in Washington, Sunday, January 22.  The Paul Stefan Foundation, (www.paulstefanhome.org) based in Fredericksburg, VA has saved over 120 women/babies since its founding just over five years ago.

“I draw tremendous inspiration from the activity of both of these groups, who, at this point in history stand courageously on the front lines in the fight to secure a culture of life,” Raye said.  “We all share the same vision that in our lifetime we will see an abortion-free America that once again values life from natural conception to natural death,” Raye concluded.

For more information or media inquiries please contact: Megan@cradleconcepts 9134260002

Get Tickets!

By Kathryn-Jean Lopez

“He will have the most amazing set of lungs.”

Paul Stefan James lived for only forty-two minutes – with a heartbeat, but never taking a breath. It seemed like a cruel coincidence that his mother’s Chicken Soup for a Mother’s Soul calendar had those words to offer on his birth date.

But within about a human gestational period, a maternity home would open in his name, and the first baby born to a mother housed there arrived a year after Paul’s birthday. “This is his lungs,” said Paul’s father, Randy James, standing in the hearth of one of the four maternity homes run by the Paul Stefan Foundation in the state of Virginia. “And it is amazing.”

“I was just told to drop the subject and drop the baby as soon as possible,” Shama Khan, one of the mothers who have called a Paul Stefan home her temporary residence, remembers. Shama’s family was ashamed of her and her unwed pregnancy and just wanted it to be gone. Feeling as if she had no other options, Shama went, alone, for an abortion.

“After what seemed like an eternity in the waiting room,” she recalls, “I was then taken into an exam room and asked to watch a short video in preparation for the ‘procedure.’ The video made it seem like it was a quick in-and-out procedure and that I’d have my life ‘back to normal’ in no time. Next the doctor laid me on the exam table and began the exam and ultrasound. I couldn’t see anything but could hear a swishing sound. I asked what that sound was and the doctor replied it was a heartbeat. I thought to myself, ‘A heartbeat? Really? At only 5-7 weeks?’”

That perception made her too tense for the procedure. She took it as a sign that she was going to do whatever it took to see her pregnancy through.

“My income was not enough to support me and my newborn. . . .I had the ability to give birth to my child but not the means to raise her. I nearly fell into depression. The thought of adopting out my firstborn was tearing me apart. Seriously, were there no other options? Section 8 housing was closed in the state of Virginia, low-income housing was being offered only after placing my name on a three-year waiting list, and most shelters in the area were full and only offered a 30-day solution. I had WIC and a few other benefits but no place to live. I was a paycheck away from being on the street; in reality I would be homeless as soon as my time in the family home ran out.”

Khan’s case is an example of the Paul Stefan Foundation’s flexibility, working with women where they are, making the world they find themselves in as welcoming to their choice to embrace their child’s life – either to care for them at one of the foundation’s own facilities, or to put them in a loving family’s arms.

Normally a woman will be pregnant when she is taken in. Shama Khan had already had her child, and was living in a home courtesy of Catholic Charities. Having welcomed life, she did not have the resources on her own to support herself and her child, but she was willing to work. The mission of the Paul Stefan homes is to make sure that these moms have a fighting chance.

Madonna del Parto [detail] by Piero della Francesca (c. 1460)

“People say miracles don’t happen,” Randy reflects. But he feels like he is living one.

Which obviously does not mean he has an easy life or is without suffering.

When Randy and his wife Evelyn were told that the baby she was carrying would be “incompatible with life,” a doctor – who, like Randy and Evelyn, is Catholic – suggested terminating the pregnancy. But they wouldn’t, and Randy says that “yes” to life put them on a path through a whole series of life-saving yeses.

Their story is, in many ways, rooted in the Nativity:  “Just like Mary said ‘yes,’ we just said yes and followed the course. We have no ideas why God picked us; we just keep praying for us daily. It has been like a light was out there, showing us where to go. He opens doors.”

And there’s certainly that at the Paul Stefan homes:  open doors. Mothers are referred from Catholic Charities and social services, and they come on their own, after Googling “maternity home.” They come from Chicago, New York, Iowa. They come from all around Virginia.

It weighs on Randy that there are three abortion centers in Charlottesville and no homes. They’d like “to open up a couple more to fill the state,” and have expansion plans into Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

“Yes” is a constant in the story of the Paul Stefan Foundation. The homes are warm, welcoming, child-friendly environments, but not free babysitting or free rides. Staff helps make connections to job skills, education, and transportation, helping women know what services are available to them.

Frequently these young mothers have been “abandoned by those who love them the most,” Evelyn notes. Taking baby steps, guided by a loving hand, will get them moving forward.

“One of the things we have in common is the brokenness and suffering,” the James’ parish priest, Fr. Stefan Starzynski, who is spiritual adviser for the homes (which serve women of all faiths and no faith), tells me.

We argue a lot about abortion, especially during presidential campaigns and elections. At homes like Paul Stefan’s or the Visitation Mission in uptown Manhattan or Maggie’s Place in Phoenix and Cleveland or the Northwest Center in Washington, D.C., or Good Counsel in New Jersey, all rhetoric stops, the healing begins, and life is lived with love.

December 21, 2011, Fredericksburg, Va:  The Paul Stefan Foundation (www.paulstefanhome.org), which operates four maternity homes in Virginia, announced today that the organization has now cared for, loved and assisted over 100 women and newborn babies as PSF celebrates its five year anniversary this Christmas season.  The Paul Stefan Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving and caring for needy, homeless and abandoned pregnant women before, during and after the birth of their children.  PSF operates four homes in Virginia: two in Unionville, one in Falls Church, and one in Fairfax.

“We are so blessed to be able to provide pregnant women in need a place where they can focus on the birth of their babies and not have to worry where they will stay, where they will get their next meal, or whether they have support all throughout their pregnancy and after the birth of their baby,” said PSF CEO Randy James. “Many of the women we assist come to us desperately in need.  Some have been abandoned, some just need a place to stay; one young woman was pregnant and living out of her car.  There is a real need for maternity homes nationwide,” James continued.

The Paul Stefan Foundation (www.paulstefanhome.org) was founded in 2006. It was inspired by the tragic death of Paul Stefan James, the newborn baby of Randy and Evelyn James who died less than an hour after birth.  With the help of their Parish Priest, Father Stefan Starzynski, a founder of the PSF and currently the organization’s Spiritual Advisor, the James’ set out to turn their grieving into something serving the common good.

“The Lord closes one door and opens another,” says Evelyn James, the PSF’s Director of Homes.  “We still grieve and mourn Paul’s loss every day.  But we believe that while God called Baby Paul home, he was also inspiring us to establish homes for pregnant women in need and care for them and their newborn babies,” James said.

The Paul Stefan Foundation maternity homes work closely with state and local social service agencies and Catholic Charities and Crisis Pregnancy Centers, combining a powerful and comprehensive unit that helps pregnant women who are often scared and need help.  The PSF also helps these women find jobs, build their careers or finish their education.

“There is Room at the Inn,” says Father Starzynski. “What we find is many of the women just need a loving, caring place to stay.  A place where they know they can rest comfortably, have their babies and get themselves back on their feet again when they are ready.  It is remarkable how time flies and we are very blessed to have had the opportunity to help 100 women and babies,” added Father Starzynski.

CEO Randy James says the organization’s goal is to open at least one home per year in Virginia or neighboring states over the next five years. “The biggest challenge we face is not caring for the women and their babies, it is finding affordable housing in locations acceptable to maternity home needs such as access to hospitals and public transportation.  But where there is a will there is a way and we intend to double in size over the next few years, God willing,” James said.

To see how the PSF makes a difference in the lives of those it serves, you can read the experience of Shama Kahn here: www.paulstefanhome.org/gala-dinner-shama-khan-speech/

To arrange an interview with Randy, Evelyn or Father Starzynski, please contact Greg Mueller at 703.683.5004 ext.  114 or by email at grm@crc4pr.com

December 13, 2011
Time: 12-3PM

Paul Stefan House 2
7612 Everona Road
Unioinville, VA 22567

Heavy appetizers and Desserts will be served

R.S.V.P: 540-854-2300

Sunday, January 22, 2012 6PM
PJ-Skidoo’s Restaurant Fairfax VA
Keynote Speaker Father Stefan
Tickets are $30.00 a piece

Get Tickets!

Memorial Day, May 28th 2012

• Starting point/registration is at the Fredericksburg Expo Center across from Central Park.
• Many prizes ~ give-aways ~ drawings ~ food ~ children games ~ fun for the entire family.
• First 500 registrants receive “Baby Paul” Tee-shirt.
• Rain or Shine
• Free event~suggested donation of $25.00 per person and $100.00 per family.
• All proceeds benefit homeless, pregnant women, and their babies.

Donate Now!

Registration for walk:

My name is Shama Khan and my story begins in August of 2008.  After days of torment from my family and no reply from the father-to-be I was made to feel ashamed and alone, led to believe that abortion was the “fix” to my “problem”.   It didn’t matter how I felt or what I thought.  I was just told to drop the subject and drop the baby as soon as possible. I made my appointment and waited for my friend to show up and she never did.  I was driven to my appointment in a cab, all by myself.  After what seemed like an eternity in the waiting room, I was then taken into an exam room and asked to watch a short video in preparation for the “procedure”.  The video made it seem like it was a quick in and out procedure and that I’d have my life “back to normal” in no time.  Next the doctor laid me on the exam table and began the exam and ultrasound.  I couldn’t see anything but could hear a swishing sound.  I asked what that sound was and the doctor replied it was a heartbeat.  I thought to myself, “A heartbeat? Really? At only 5-7 weeks?” A rush of emotions came over me.  A heartbeat meant there was life.  How could I end a life? How could anyone end a life? I became tense and knew abortion was not for me. I kept silent and prayed as the doctor proceeded with the exam. Ten minutes passed and the doctor then reviewed my exam. He reported I was so tense it would interfere with his ability to perform the procedure.  His recommendation was to make another appointment so I could be sedated for the procedure. I interpreted the delay as a sign from God.  At that moment I decided that if the abortion did not take place that day it would never take place. I then walked out of the doctors office and onto the path of motherhood.

It became a clear and simple choice to keep my baby.  Coming up with an action plan to manage pregnancy and life after a baby was not simple. In fact it was quite a challenge.  It did not help that my family disagreed with my decision.  My family felt embarrassed and dishonored and decided they wanted nothing to do with me or my unborn child.  My mother discussed her disappointment at her local senior center run by Catholic Charities.  Catholic Charities intervened and helped place me in a family home to ensure a safe, healthy, happy pregnancy and delivery. It was a wonderful and blessed experience! The only problem was finding a permanent home for my newborn and me that I could actually afford. I couldn’t seem to come up with any answers. My income was not enough to support me and my newborn. Time at the family home was running out. I had the ability to give birth to my child but not the means to raise her. I nearly fell into depression.  The thought of adopting out my firstborn was tearing me apart.  Seriously, were there no other options?  Section 8 housing was closed in the state of Virginia, low- income housing was being offered only after placing my name on a three-year waiting list and most shelters in the area were full and only offered a 30-day solution.  I had WIC and a few other benefits but no place to live.  I was a paycheck away from being I was not just a paycheck away from the street; in reality I would be homeless as soon as my time in the family home ran out.

The time had come to place my faith in God and let him pave a path for us. I reassured myself that God had gotten us this far and that he would somehow find a way. I then turned my focus on caring for my newborn and myself. My anxiety, however, would not allow me to rest.  Then one morning I received a phone call. It was a counselor from Catholic Charities.  She spoke of a home in Orange County, VA, that was for homeless pregnant women and their babies.  I thought to myself, “I am homeless and I have a baby, but I’m no longer pregnant.” I began to think we were traveling down another dead-end road. That was not the case because God had a plan.  A woman named Evelyn James from the Paul Stefan Foundation in Orange County, VA, had made an exception to the rule!  The rule had always been that a pregnant mom would enter the Paul Stefan Home and deliver her baby as a resident.  Given my emergency situation Evelyn and Randy James, founders of the Paul Stefan Foundation, opened their hearts and their home to my newborn and me.  I knew then that God was truly looking out for us!

In March of 2009 I left my job of 4 years to move hours away so that I could have the opportunity to raise my child.  Upon entering the Paul Stefan Home I felt a sense of relief.  It wasn’t just a house it was really a home.  Evelyn was like a friend, a mentor, and a mother   Randy was firm, like fathers tend to be, but also a down-to-earth, good-natured man.  Father Stefan always brought with him a sense of peace and a great sense of hope. The rest of the staff was always willing to help and respected us as individuals.  I wish all of the residents knew how blessed we were to have such a safe-haven for our home.  The Paul Stefan Foundation did not hesitate to provide the appropriate staff and resources needed to ensure a safe, healthy, and happy environment for our children.  They went above and beyond to provide mothers like me the education, skills, training and knowledge needed to give fuel to our success.  Every mother had a vision for her and her child.  Every member of the foundation worked hard to help make that vision a reality.  Some mothers decided they were not ready for motherhood and that adoption would be in the best interest of their child.  The foundation then provided the information necessary to make that transition possible.  There were, however, some bumps in the road.  Assistance was provided to help create resumes and seek employment opportunities. At the time we were faced with a troubled job market.  If you were fortunate to receive a call for a job interview and extended a job offer you were then required to have reliable transportation.  There was no public transportation available in Orange County. Most available jobs were in Fredericksburg or Culpepper, about 28 miles away.  We desperately needed a car or van to help transport moms to and from interviews, doctors’ visits, court dates, and other numerous events.  Funding for a major investment like a car or van was not yet available.  There were many costs associated with running two homes and providing the staff and resources needed for all the mothers and their babies.  We relied heavily on the foundation for everything, from our most basic needs to helping us prepare for life after leaving the Paul Stefan Home. You see, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamps, and a few other benefits offered by the government simply weren’t enough.  Had it not been for the Paul Stefan Foundation not only would my child and I have been homeless, we would have been a recipe for disaster.
Support from the Paul Stefan Foundation helped me in many ways.  I was able to provide housing and resources needed for myself and most importantly for my child.  The foundation also helped in financial planning and reducing debt.  Upon discharge from the home I was provided with supplies I would need for life after leaving the Paul Stefan Home.  At one point I had ideas to pursue my own business in Childcare and Childcare Development, although my experience was in the field of veterinary medicine.  The foundation was willing to provide the education and tools necessary to start my own business!  I decided instead to return to the field of veterinary medicine.  That decision was based on personal reasons and never due to lack of support from the foundation.

I have since been employed full-time and enjoy being a mom.  I would like to express thanks to Evelyn and Randy who made it possible for me to keep my baby and experience motherhood.  In addition I would like to thank all who contribute to making The Paul Stefan Foundation a success.  Every dollar donated helps enable and empower young mothers to believe in themselves, to overcome obstacles, to strive to make the right choices for their family, and to never lose faith in God.  I encourage those with the ability to donate to please do so generously.  Last but not least I would to thank all members of the Paul Stefan Foundation for making life worth living!

Shama Khan

Memorial Day, May 30th 2011
from 10:00 to 1:00

• Starting point/registration is at the Fredericksburg Expo Center across from Central Park.
• Many prizes ~ give-aways ~ drawings ~ food ~ children games ~ fun for the entire family.
• First 500 registrants receive “Baby Paul” Tee-shirt.
• Rain or Shine
• Free event~suggested donation of $25.00 per person and $100.00 per family.
• All proceeds benefit homeless, pregnant women, and their babies.

Black Tie Optional

When: October 22nd, 2011
Time: Doors open at 5:30 PM~ Dinner at 7:00 PM~ Dancing 8:30 PM
Where: Fredericksburg Convention Center/Expo Center

Tickets:

• $50.00 per person until August 31st, 2011
• $75.00 thereafter
• Baby Paul Event Sponsor-$3,000
• Angel Table Sponsor-$1,500