Mary Cunningham Agee is convinced that her vocation in life is to be a wife and mother. Although that philosophy must have surprised same of her early business colleagues, she unhesitatingly poured into this vocation all of her well-recognized strategic-planning savvy, her Harvard Business School degree, her success in helping to run several Fortune 500 companies and her numerous prestigious awards. In fact, she left the intense lifestyle of top management and a comfortable six-figure salary because, in her words, "it did not fit with the kind of wife and mother I wanted to become."

But Agee's subsequent apostolate as founder and director of The Nurturing Network, a nationwide outreach to women in crisis pregnancies, clearly shows that her motherhood extends far beyond raising her own two children. In fact, She could rightly be called "a mother to mothers" -- to mothers in crisis.

Throughout her life, Agee, now 46, has drawn strength and hope from the crosses that have come her way. Raised in New Hampshire as one of four children, her parents separated when she was 5 years old. Her cousin, a priest and the Catholic chaplain at Dartmouth for 37 years, became her father figure and confidant. "He taught me as a little girl the lesson of the cross -- how to take a loss as profound as the loss of my father at such a young age and raise that up in prayer to find the blessing in the sacrifice," Agee recalled.

After she was married, Agee experienced one of the greatest crosses in her life: She lost her first child in a second trimester miscarriage. "My faith alone could offer the comforting thought that our infinitely loving and merciful God would eventually bring something good out of my anguish," Agee explained.

Through her own loss, Agee empathized with pregnant women who felt alone or rejected because of their pregnancy. A practical woman at heart, Agee applied her keen business mind to the problem and began to do some market research.

What she discovered were the special needs of the many young women who experience crisis pregnancies when they are college-aged or just launching a career. Most women who had chosen abortions under these circumstances would have continued their pregnancies if they had been offered a way to avoid sacrificing either their college education or their careers.

In 1985, after much prayer, reflection and organization, Agee created a unique network of volunteers to meet the individual needs of such women. She called it The Nurturing Network to reflect both the compassionate, vocational nature of the work as well as the practical task at hand. "I wanted to send the message that it's not enough to have great ideas," Agee said. "You must have a way to translate those ideas into practice."

The Nurturing Network is structured to allow service tailored individually to each woman seeking help. The network comprises community clusters of five key resources: the nurturing home, the doctor, the counselor and either an educational or employment opportunity. All five must be in place before a Client is referred to any given location.

"We want women to emerge from this pregnancy better off than they were, not worse," Agee explained. "If they live in a loving, supportive, nurturing home, receive compassionate counseling and medical care, and are able to either continue their education or work goals while doing what they know to be right in their heart, they'll grow from this crisis."

Turning lives around

Today, after 13 years of existence, The Nurturing Network has a resource base of 22,000 dedicated volunteers in 50 states and 23 countries around the world. More than 10,000 mothers in crisis have been helped and 10,000 babies have been saved.

"I knew in my heart of hearts that I couldn't have an abortion," said one former Nurturing Network Client, Desiree Manuel of Wilmington, N.C. "[But] after eight years of pro-life work and three years as a director of a crisis-pregnancy center, for the first time I could see why people chose abortion. I could see how my clients felt. You just want a big eraser."

 So Manuel turned to the same resource she had used for many of her clients, The Nurturing Network (TNN). "TNN was my anchor," she explained. "I felt like they were God's hands and feet to me. People who are involved with The Nurturing Network have the ability to help people they may never meet face to face. [This organization] has changed my life forever."

When one of the partners in Jim McCabe's Philadelphia law firm read about The Nurturing Network in Reader's Digest, they were intrigued and called to offer their services if a Client needed a job. Before long, they had hired Bridget Turbridy, who was referred to them by The Nurturing Network and "passed our screening with flying colors," McCabe said.

Turbridy worked as a temporary secretary until she delivered little Elizabeth Ann. McCabe's firm offered her a permanent job, but Turbridy opted to return to her hometown. They still exchange photos and keep in touch.

Impressed, McCabe's firm hosted a luncheon for Agee, inviting other local business leaders and corporations to learn how they could become involved with The Nurturing Network. "Mrs. Agee is realistic in that she knows that The Nurturing Network must do a good job of making sure the women they send are able to meet the qualifications that an employer needs," McCabe said.

Anne Dryden, executive assistant for Catholic Charities U.S.A. in Alexandria, Va., first learned of The Nurturing Network through a co-worker. Having opened her home to 12 women over the past 10 years who sought help through Catholic Charities in Arlington, Va., Dryden was quick to offer her home as a nurturing resource should any of The Nurturing Network's Client be in need of housing. "We have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk if we don't want people to have abortions," Dryden said in explaining her generosity. "This is something I can do."

Nurturing Network Client Annette Talbot gave birth to Colette four years ago because of such assistance. Confused and soon to be homeless, Talbot saw an ad for the organization in the Arlington Catholic Herald diocesan newspaper and called as a last resort. She knew she didn't want an abortion -- she'd already had one at 18.

"It was fantastic," she said. "What really got me was that they would call to check in with me. I was so desperate."

Talbot got a job as a receptionist at Catholic Charities through a Nurturing Network cluster and turned her life around. "I may not have been here if it weren't for all the help I received," she said candidly. "They turned something that might have been a real stumbling block into a real blessing. My experience was so filled with love and positive influences and wonderful guidance. I felt really taken care of and happy because I had been so alone."

That's the kind of news that keeps volunteers eager to continue their mission. "Network members are caring people who believe that if you are 'for life' you must provide the means to support and nurture life on a very practical basis," said Agee. "It is irresponsible and unfair to simply say to a woman, 'Don't have an abortion,' unless we are prepared to provide her with loving support throughout her pregnancy and as long as needed thereafter."

"We are engaged in a battle for the very soul of our culture and the battle must be waged now," continued Agee. "I believe that the renewal of Christian life in our culture will provide the springboard from which we will heal as a people. I am convinced that the foundational requirement for restoring civic and moral order will be found in greater respect for life and enhanced human dignity."