Imagine a high school campus where motherhood is revered, where babies are cherished—and even invited—and where moms are treated with dignity and love. This is St. Gerard Campus—a maternity home, high school, and resource center in St. Augustine, Florida.
Truly unique in every way, St. Gerard Campus serves moms and cherishes parenthood. Established in the early 1980s to “support the yes” of young moms who have chosen life for their babies, the campus changes lives for the better every day.
Founded by Carol Wolff after she gave her own yes to God and to a young pregnant mom who needed a home and had nothing, St. Gerard Campus was incorporated in 1985 and now has its own building, where it has been since 1987.
Its dormitories house five pregnant or parenting moms ages 14-20, but the campus also welcomes day students from throughout the area. The only criteria are that the moms must be pursuing their high school diploma and that they must give their own yes—a yes to the program requirements and to the rules of the campus.
Currently the SGC dorm is full and 13 day students attend classes on site.
Additionally, St. Gerard Campus supports all of northeastern Florida by providing needy parents or grandparents with baby items such as diapers, wipes, formula, cribs, car seats, and more. It is truly a gift to the community.
A ‘comradery of motherhood’
In 2020, Brittany Glisson took over as its executive director. Brittany, a mom of three boys, shared her own abortion story with me, explaining that, at the age of 15 she had an abortion that she did not want. At the abortion facility, she met with a counselor, who she hoped would help her tell her family she wanted to keep her baby. Instead, what she received was a manipulation of the truth and of the vulnerability she had expressed. Brittany felt silenced.
She explained that, after the abortion, she walked out of the building a “shell of what walked in.” From that day on, she suffered internally, not wanting to talk about her abortion experience. She said she lost interest in school and sports and began living a bit of a “wild” life. Two years later, at the age of 17, she became pregnant again, but this time she decided to have her baby.
Brittany felt stronger then, and because she had known about St. Gerard Campus, she made a plan. She told her mom she would go there to finish high school.
Brittany lived at home and attended the day program. She gave birth to a son then eventually graduated and went to nursing school. She married and had two more sons, but the love and support she received from SGC remained always with her. She explained that at SGC, she felt honored for her yes to motherhood. She felt loved, cared for, cherished, and part of a community. And she realized quickly that this place was something special.
After her youngest son began school, Brittany called Carol Wolff and said she wanted to volunteer at St. Gerard Campus. She explained that “there was a seed planted” in her that just told her this was where she needed to be.
Brittany started volunteering, then joined the staff, did educational support, and is now executive director, showering young moms with that same love and support she so desperately needed more than 20 years ago. She explained that she wants moms to understand that motherhood is a calling and they are worthy and capable of being good mothers. And every day, she and her staff work to instill these beliefs in them.
Day-to-day life
All prospective students must first tour the facility before beginning. During the tour, they will learn about the program’s rules and are told what is expected of them. Brittany stated that this gives the young moms the “empowerment of choice” so that they can give their yes to cooperate with the program. She explained that that yes leads to success, stating, “If they want to be here, we want to do everything in our capacity to make sure they succeed as well.”
All moms at SGC work toward a full high school diploma. The classes follow the Florida state curriculum, and the campus offers enrichment classes as well. For example, the girls learn financial literacy and art. Because it’s a Christ-centered campus, they attend Bible study every morning. Often, speakers from the community will come in to talk to the students. In the past, speakers have included doctors who talk about nutrition, dental health professionals, people who speak about dating violence and social media dangers, business owners, and more. These people are integral parts of the team that helps these moms on their journey to success.
The facility also has a daycare on site, though moms can take babies into the classroom until the babies are three months old. Volunteers staff the classrooms and hold and feed the babies when the moms are engaged in learning.
Brittany explained that the girls all become a family and partake in fun experiences together, like holiday outings, gender reveals, and more. She said that “it’s community at its best” and that the girls and staff become family to each other.
Hope for the future
Brittany shared that there is an immense need for housing and for more programs like SGC. To that end, they are working to expand the campus to house 15 moms and their babies. They hope to break ground in 2028. That 15 will include 10 spaces for current students and then transitional space for five others. This will allow staff to help newly graduated moms as they work to get on their feet.
Because the need is so great, Brittany hopes and prays that the St. Gerard Campus model can be used in other states and communities, for as we know, when we strengthen moms and families and give them the skills they need to independently care for themselves, we also strengthen society. As Brittany shared, “Saved moms saves babies.”
SGC’s program has been a huge success, as the moms are given the tools they need to go out into the world and care for themselves and their children. For over 40 years, St. Gerard Campus has taken in young, scared mothers and given them a home and an education. Yet the reality is that SGC has given moms much more than that, as it helps young mothers recognize their own worth and the value of the child they’re carrying.
And that is truly what it means to be pro-life.
This article first appeared in National Catholic Register at ncregister.com/commentaries/st-gerard-campus-profile.
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