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Karen Patota is the founder of A Baby's Breath. The inspiration came from a friend’s experience with Planned Parenthood about 20 years ago.
Karen’s friend was not given accurate information about her developing baby. Instead she was told that the baby was merely a clump of cells
and she ultimately aborted her baby with this misinformation. The birth of her first son was her
inspiration to act upon her pro-life convictions. When she held him in her hands and looked into his eyes, she saw God’s love. She knew then what her
friend who had an abortion had missed.
Karen is the mother of four children. Her first baby is getting ready to go off to college and her life is about taking her kids to swim practices, music lessons and is also about helping other communities in creating A Baby's Breath centers.
She earned a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering
from Drexel University in 1992 and a bachelor's degree in Applied Math from California State University in Long Beach in 1989. She is a parishioner at Visitation of the St. Teresa of Avila in Trooper. PA.
A Baby's Breath’s primary mission is to "help a mother to see her child take his/her first breath”.
It is a safe place where mothers, fathers, and families can talk freely
without being judged and where they can hear the truth from a voice filled
with compassion and hope. Through their pregnancy counseling sessions with
our volunteers, mothers learn about the life developing inside of them and
are given the opportunity to discuss and focus on their life goals. We
explore their options regarding adoption, speak to them about the message
of chastity, and also offer a first step in the healing process in post-abortive support.
Our first center, a small 400 sq. ft. office, opened on August 15, 2000 on the Feast
of the Assumption in the Jubilee year in honor of Our Lady. The counseling room
was so full of baby supplies that we barely had room to counsel. The move to our
current location in Jeffersonville at 2118 W. Main Street in September 2001 resolved
the space problem. We opened a second center at 1350 Willow Street in Norristown on August 15, 2003.
Exactly two years later the Lord blessed our Ministry with our
third location Collegeville which opened on August 15, 2005. Our newest center is in Bryn Mawr which opened August 15, 2007
A Baby's Breath is a registered 501(3)c charity, but it functions as a self-help organization.
We do this by helping clients develop the skills they need to provide a stable and loving environment for their children.
We provide free tutoring in GED training. Our volunteer registered nurses conduct pre-natal classes on fetal development,
nutrition, safety and related topics. We hold individual and group parenting class including budgeting advice from a registered financial
planner, parenting techniques, and more for our parents in order to extend our support for life. We are the front door
to many other resources. We have the forms our clients need to access help from other organizations. Our Baby Store
houses supplies for our clients' babies (diapers, clothing, toys, cribs, etc.) and maternity clothing, which has been donated by kind folks
throughout the Delaware Valley. Our clients accrue credits to purchase what they need by attending counseling sessions, GED sessions,
parenting classes, pre-natal classes, etc. We do all of this through the grace of God, the support of our
sponsors and contributors and the hard work of our dedicated volunteers.
Our dedicated volunteers have always been the foundation for A Baby’s Breath’s
ability to fulfill its mission. Our volunteers have generously donated their time, talent and
treasure to this organization and are its life's blood. They are nurses, teachers,
engineers, business people, moms, dads, and clergymen assembled together
to help mothers, fathers, and families weather a crisis pregnancy. We know
that choosing life is not easy, but we know that where there's life - there's
hope. We supply the hope for mothers/fathers/families in crisis pregnancies.
If you are interested in creating a place of hope in your community. Please call Karen at (484) 571-5541.
Board of Directors
Karen Patota – Founder & President
Joseph Baldassari, Esq. – Vice-President
Margaret Malloy, CPA – Treasurer
Sheri Cummins
John Diesel
Maria Diesel
Jennie Genus
Maureen Kozak
Maryann McDonnell
Peggy Rezza
Dorothy Swedkowski
Harry Tucci, Jr.
Advisory Board of Directors
Father John Hagen
Father Patrick Sweeney
Msgr. Philip Cribben
Sister Paula Vandegaer
Vincent Arena
Anthony Re
James White IV
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