Joanne Bratta, The Director of Hopeful Beginnings is a true pleasure to work with. Her caring and complete understanding of the journey of birth mothers and adoptive parents is wonderful and I would recommend Hopeful Beginnings to anyone looking for counseling or has questions on this sensitive time in a person's life.

I was adopted through St. Mary's as a baby 50 years ago. In the past ten years, I've reconnected and am proud to now serve on the board. The caring staff are true to the founding sisters' vision that every child deserves a good home. In addition to adoption, outreach to high school teens, workshops for parents, and many types of counseling for women continue to provide listening and guidance with dignity and compassion for women, children, and families. Hopeful Beginnings of St. Mary's continues to make an enormous positive difference in many people's lives as it has in mine.

St Mary’s is dedicated to their mission. They offer numerous services for birth moms as they navigate the adoption journey. The attention they give and caring they provide for waiting families is wonderful. My wife and I chose them in late 2011 because they were smaller and really felt comfortable. Personal touch is paramount during this process for both birth moms and families waiting. St Mary’s provides this on an ongoing basis. I will forever be thankful to this organization for fostering the unconditional love my nearly 7 year old daughter provides my wife and I since we brought her home at 3 days old. There is nothing that brings more joy. The match between birth mom and our family could not have been better. Any birth mom or waiting family should consider choosing St Mary’s for their family planning.

As a board member for St. Mary's Services for 8 years, I have had an excellent view of the growth of the agency. The staff is passionate about the mission, "Every child deserves a good home". Our executive director is a visionary. She has created an environment that encourages inventive solutions and programs to support the women, children and families in the community. From the volunteers to the board of trustees, the focus is always how best can we help create loving, caring and stable families.

I had a wonderful experience with St. Mary's, they helped us out a lot as we were doing an independent international adoption. Caseworker was very informative she did a thorough homestudy and she made sure that everything was as it needed to be for us to continue, she was very professional and she had stated that she was not opposed to going to other countries as she has done prior to help complete adoptions that is how dedicated she was. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about St. Mary's and I would refer family and friends to use their services. They are extremely professional and they answer all of her questions. I am a adopted child, St. Mary's had helped my mother for the adoption process in 1984, so it's almost like I went back to a family type setting because they already knew who I was from me explaining my situation and my story. Thanks to St. Mary's Services I am now the mother of a six-year-old son that I have been with us since he was born. It's the best feeling in the world. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️