Good Counsel
Founded in 1985 by Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, and Christopher Bell, a Catholic layman, Good Counsel is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader and innovator in creating supportive residential care and community based services for homeless expectant and new mothers and their children in the context of the Catholic social tradition. Good Counsel operates four homes in New York State debt-free and helps others replicate its model programs, now in eight states. Good Counsel conducts a post-abortion counseling service and referral network called Lumina. Good Counsel also operates a national Helpline for those facing crisis pregnancies.
Good Counsel is a family for those in need, serving God who is the father of the orphan, defender of the widow, and who gives the lonely a home (Psalm 68). Our Lord’s call to serve the disadvantaged compels us to advocate on behalf of single mothers and their children and to offer love, shelter, and the opportunity to grow in self-respect and independence. We invoke the patronage of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to help protect mothers in need and to love their children from the moment of conception.
The mission of Good Counsel Homes is perfectly expressed in Evangelium Vitae, the encyclical written by Pope John Paul II. Good Counsel is where the Gospel of Life meets the long-term needs of single mothers and babies during their time of greatest and most vulnerable need. Good Counsel is where advocacy fulfills its promise to mothers choosing life. Our programs offer unconditional love, accountability and real hope by addressing the whole person – mind, body and spirit. Mothers stay with us, typically up to a year, until they become both financially stable and emotionally equipped to provide for their families and to become valued members of their community.
Accomplishments
There is no simple way to describe our mothers, but their unique stories remind us that there is a special courage by which they each live, making us reexamine our ideas about heroes. The agonies that threatened to destroy them and their children become fertile ground for developing greater trust, stronger hope and new skills during their time with us and enduring confidence once they leave to build their lives in the community.
In 2008, our toll-free Helpline received 3,351 calls for assistance. 315 mothers and children resided in our homes (more than 5,400 since 1985). Our occupancy rate in 2008 was 96% and the average length of stay for our graduates was 12.2 months. During this time our mothers gave birth to 32 babies (more than 700 births since 1985). Toward achieving independent life skills, 103 mothers obtained educational advancement and 82 obtained new employment. In addition to work and school, each of our mothers is encouraged to volunteer in her respective community. We served 149 graduate families in our Exodus program. Financially, we ended 2008 with $150,511 ahead of the expense budget of $3,904,967, spending 83% on programs.
More than 25,000 generous people from across the country giving in faith each year and our many dozens of dedicated volunteers are integral to the Gospel of Life meeting the long-term needs of our single mothers and babies during their time of greatest need. Their support enables Good Counsel to offer its mothers unconditional love, accountability, vital resources, advocacy and real hope.
Good Counsel Board of Directors
Rev. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Chairman
Andrew Cash, Treasurer, Point Clear Value Management
Mark Swartzberg, Secretary, Stifel Nicolaus
Hope Carter, DM, Community Volunteer
Kenneth Craig, KM, Deutsche Bank
Pip Donahoe, Community Volunteer
James Fitzgerald, retired, Community Volunteer
Marion Glennon, DM, Community Volunteer
Bill J. Klatt, Community Volunteer
Rev. Marius Koch, CFR
Rev. Bernard Murphy, CFR
Mike O’Rourke, KM, Oppenheimer & Company, Inc.
J. Anthony San Filippo, MD
Peter Shea, Thomson Reuters
Vincent Stempel, Jr., Esq.
Nivene Young, Community Volunteer
Note: Knights or Dames of Malta (KM or DM)
Governance
Good Counsel’s Board of Directors provides guidance and strategic oversight of the organization. Board committees provide more regular focus to various areas of our work and ensure comprehensive protocols and procedures are in place and followed.
Evaluation
Internally, program excellence is established through staff and program evaluations, including informal evaluative sessions with the mothers in our care as well as written assessments. In addition, verification of excellent service delivery and adherence to health and living standards are derived from the following external sources for each of our homes:
Evaluation by State and local health and fire officials to ensure compliance with mandatory health and safety codes.
Program Impact/Benefit Studies conducted utilizing staff and resident satisfaction surveys.
Independent audit of finances on an annual basis conducted by certified public accountants.
Annual registration and compliance with State Attorneys General Charity Division regulations, adhering to all states’ charity registration laws and procedures as applicable.
Good Counsel’s IRS tax exemption certification number: 22-2831271
