News Photo by Julie Riddle Moms-to-be Melissa LaBonte, Jasmine Lowell, Katelyn Sims, and Amber Reynolds enjoy a joyful moment at a shower in their honor Tuesday as part of the Embrace Grace program at Resurrection Lutheran Church.

ALPENA — Two years after graduating from Alpena High School, Shyla Prevost found out she was pregnant. Living with her mom in Wyoming, Prevost was scared.

“I felt like I was going to be by myself forever,” Prevost said.

That loneliness is the reason Prevost, now 24, was in a church fellowship hall on Tuesday, decorating tables loaded with pastel-wrapped gifts.

Back when Prevost was frightened by an uncertain future, a friend invited her to a group for women who were pregnant and unmarried. At first afraid to attend, Prevost finally found security in the presence of other moms-to-be who were walking in her shoes. The women running the program became mentors and friends, hands she could hold as she faced the unknown.

Once she moved back to Alpena, Prevost knew she needed to help other girls who were facing a pregnancy alone. With the help of generous-hearted women at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Alpena, Provost initiated Embrace Grace, a program for unmarried women facing a pregnancy.

Women who participate in the program commit to attending classes at the church for 12 weeks. At each session, the women watch a video, discuss struggles and triumphs, and pray together. The purpose of the program is to make sure the women carrying a life inside them know that their own life is valued.

The first class of women started their journey with Embrace Grace in January. Now midway through the program, the four young women, ages 17 to 24, were invited to a baby shower on Tuesday hosted by the women of Resurrection.

The expectant mothers’ faces lit up as they talked about Embrace Grace.

Jasmine Lowell, 17, the youngest of the group, lost friends because they were living a lifestyle that she couldn’t continue as a mom-to-be.

“I kind of reclused myself, didn’t really talk to anyone else,” Lowell said. “I opened up more here. I think it’s really therapeutic, in a way. It’s like you’re with family.”

Close to her due date, Melissa LaBonte, 21, thinks the bonds forged at the classes will continue long after the program ends. The positive atmosphere of the weekly classes carries beyond the walls of the church.

“It’s such a beautiful thing. When you attend a class, you usually leave with a very, very good, positive vibe and go home feeling a whole lot better,” LaBonte said.

Lacking support at the beginning , Katelyn Sims, 25-ish, said the Embrace Grace group has given her a place where she feels safe.

“They just make you feel so welcome,” Sims said. “They make you feel like it’s going to be OK.”

Sims wasn’t sure if she wanted to have her child, but being in the group has helped her feel like she can handle the choice she made.

“I’m very thankful for my son,” Sims said, her voice quavering, “and now I know I’m doing everything right, this is what I need to do, and here I have all that support, and it really helps.”

Amber Reynolds, 21, related being scared to join the group because she felt rejected elsewhere. The support of a group that didn’t criticize her has helped her to navigate a difficult time.

“My friends,” she said, pointing at the other guests of honor at the party, “they are nice to me, and they ask me how I’m doing. It’s family. We help each other out.”

The young women share clothes and make each other baby gifts, a foursome who started out feeling alone but have grown into friends who support and care for one another.

There’s no judgement in the group, the women said, with nods of appreciation.

“I was scared because I’m the youngest one here,” Lowell said, “and I’m like, what are they going to think of me?”

Some of the groups’ leaders shared their own stories of unplanned, single-mom pregnancies. Lowell said.

“It kind of made me feel better, because I’m not the only one,” she said. “It’s really nice to know.”

The tables full of gifts at the shower mean more to the young ladies than just the fun of opening presents. The items being provided are things the moms couldn’t have gotten on their own.

“For me, this means a lot,” Sims said. “You need the help.”

Prevost, accomplishing a dream by beginning the program, is moved by knowing that her own hurts have led to healing the loneliness for other women who share her story.

“There’s so many girls that feel like they’re alone when they go through something like this,” Prevost said. “They just need somebody to tell them, you’re not alone. Somebody loves you.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com.