Forty Years: Saving Moms and Babies since 1985

For forty years, Good Counsel has stood in the gap, reaching out to mothers in crisis, offering them not just shelter but hope, not just resources but unconditional love. Since opening our first home in Hoboken in March 1985, we have never turned away a mother in need.

At the heart of our mission is a simple but profound truth: Save the moms, and they will save their babies. We have seen it time and again—when a woman is given love, support, and the resources to stand on her own, she chooses life. Not just life for her child, but a new life for herself. She finds the strength to break cycles of poverty, abuse, and fear. She discovers that she is capable of more than she ever imagined.

We operate a 24/7 crisis hotline and help website where real, live counselors answer every call. Sometimes, a woman simply needs reassurance that she can do this, that she already is a mother, and that we will walk beside her every step of the way. Other times, she needs guidance— financial, medical, legal. We connect her with local pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and support systems. And when there is nowhere else to turn, she and her children can walk through our doors and find a home.

Across our four maternity homes, we offer more than just shelter—we provide a path forward. Through education and skills training, in-home daycare, and personalized support, each mother is given the tools to build a stable and fulfilling life. But more than that, we offer something radical: a family. Many of the women who come to us have never known true, unconditional love. They have been abandoned, neglected, or pushed aside. At Good Counsel, they are embraced. And when they leave our home, they know they are never truly leaving us. They can always return—for a meal, for the holidays, for advice, for help, even to re-enter the home if the need arises.

There is a crisis in our country—one that lies not in motherhood but in the message being given to women. Too often, they are told that success and motherhood cannot coexist, that their dreams and their child’s life are incompatible. This is not empowerment—it is a lie wrapped in elitism, telling women that their worth is conditional. Society calls abortion morally neutral, forcing women to justify giving life when it should be the other way around. Abortion is not neutral. It is a loss—a loss of life, a loss of peace, and often, a loss of self.

At Good Counsel, we exist to change this narrative. We are building a world where every woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant does not think first of a clinic, but of a home—a place called Good Counsel. Because when we save the moms, they will save their babies.

As we move into our fortieth year, we envision Good Counsel not just as a sanctuary for mothers in crisis but as a nationally recognized movement leading the way in thought and action. Join us. Together, we can stand behind every mother and say with certainty:

‍We’ve got your back.