Julie Mallett has a very emotional bond to Sisters Haven — the faith-based nonprofit she co-founded with four other women to provide shelter and services for pregnant women and children in need.

While the organization’s name points to the sisterhood that all mothers share, it also hits home for Julie in a different way. Between 2014 and 2021, Julie lost three of her own sisters, who had been like mothers to her growing up in an Irish-Catholic family with eight other siblings.

“They were all in their 50s. They were all mothers, and all died from different situations,” Julie said, “So, it just made me dive into my faith and really look and see, like, what does God want for me?”

Julie, a mother of four, and her husband have been active at St. Christopher Parish in Rocky River for more than 20 years. But as she mourned the losses of her sisters, Julie said she felt a calling to go beyond her parish community and volunteer with various organizations in Cleveland. She credits the Holy Spirit with connecting her to four other like-minded Christian women. “Two of us are Catholic, and three are from other Christian denominations. And we all had the desire, the mission, to help women and children in Cleveland who are struggling with poverty and the lack of a support system,” she explained.

Sisters Haven formally launched in May 2022 in Cleveland’s Cudell neighborhood. It has two components. The first is an in-house program that began in February with the opening of a single-family home donated by Rocky River United Methodist Church. The home has capacity for seven pregnant women who can stay until their child is about 9 months old. The program also provides an array of wrap-around services such as mental health counseling and career guidance through partnerships with other local nonprofits.

The second part of Sisters Haven centers on a robust outreach program that began in 2022. The organization hosts four to six events a year that include distributing diapers and other needed supplies along with providing educational opportunities such as cooking and nutrition classes — even CPR training. Julie said they have up to 100 participants attending some sessions.

But one of the greatest assets of Sisters Haven is its Moms’ Board, which consists of women who themselves experienced being unhoused or have children who attend the outreach programs. The board meets quarterly, providing guidance and wisdom about different services and strategies to continue to meet the needs of the community from the viewpoint of those who know it firsthand.

Julie believes that Sisters Haven is based on the old adage: it takes a village to raise a child.

“The number one thing is to meet people where they are. We give them unconditional love and a sense of community,” she said.

“Unconditional love and support are exactly what Jesus calls us to provide,” said Tony Dipre, director of the diocesan Office of Human Life. Tony said support programs such as Sisters Haven are especially important for women facing unplanned pregnancies who need to be made aware of the services available to assist them.

“We need to help them understand that they can turn away from any decision to end a pregnancy and, instead, choose life,” he said.

Tony cited Walking with Moms in Need/the Gabriel Project as two other examples of programs that help pregnant women embrace their path to motherhood. Volunteers in these programs, which are now active in at least seven parishes across the diocese, provide mentoring and supplies to women and their families, and are dedicated to accompanying a woman throughout her pregnancy, and even after the baby is born.   

Julie said Sisters Haven partners with the Walking with Moms in Need program at St. Christopher and they have collaborated to support some mothers in Cleveland.

“At Sisters Haven, our tagline is that every woman has a journey and every journey matters,” she said. Julie and her colleagues are in the process of amplifying their services. They are working with the Cuyahoga Land Bank to secure and restore other homes in the Cudell neighborhood to provide affordable housing for women and children who move out of the main house. “Right now, we’re fundraising to re-do houses in the community. So, then as women move out, they can move into second-stage housing which will be based on flexible rent,” she explained.

Julie credits Bishop Edward Malesic’s Pastoral Letter, “A Flourishing Apostolic Church,” with affirming the work she is doing and igniting her efforts to expand it even further. The bishop’s letter calls on all Catholics in the diocese to “identify his or her mission of service.” Julie is thankful that she found a mission that allows her to honor her three sisters who died in a way that takes her beyond her own parish walls to serve women and children in need.

“The letter really opened my eyes on how I can help be a bridge between my parish and the city’s needs. It felt like a call not just to go out, but to bring others with me,” she said.   

“At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to love. That’s really who Jesus is. And we’re just trying to reflect that in a real, everyday way.” 

Learn More

For more information on Sisters Haven, visit sisters-haven.org

Interested in volunteering or donating? Email jmallett@sisters-haven.org.

Visit dioceseofcleveland.org/offices/parish-life/office-for-human-life/pregnancy-resources.

Read the bishop’s pastoral letter at dioceseofcleveland.org/a-flourishing-apostolic-church.