Ms. Piper is 8½ months pregnant with her fourth child, Maleki. She found herself out on the street after a friend she was staying with got out of the Army.

“I didn’t really find myself to the homeless point, I just felt myself gradually getting there,” she said. “Good came to good and bad came to bad - I had to have a roof over my children’s head.”

The maternity shelter has provided a home for her and her children complete with home-cooked meals around a dining room table and a bedtime for the children.

“I came here with a lot of goals that I didn’t get accomplished in the real world,” said Ms. Piper, 31. “I came here and most of my goals got accomplished in the first week.”

Those goals included applying for Medicaid, housing and child support.

Ms. Piper entered the National Guard after graduating from high school where she served for nine years, then served in the Army for three - and found herself stationed at Fort Hood. Her mother had temporary custody of the children while Piper was in the Army, but her mother was in Louisiana.

Not until two months ago were Ny’kera, 6, Antoine, 8, and Xavier, 9, able to live in Texas with their mother.

“It’s still a challenge because they were away from me for three years. They’re still adjusting,” she said. “I try to have a surprise for them every day. I just try to make them happy and make them want to be with me.”

Being at the maternity shelter gave Ms. Piper a home address that she could use to enroll her children in school, something that she couldn’t do while staying at her friend’s home. She has become involved in a local church and the children are excited about joining a youth group.

“When I first got here, I didn’t think I was going to be able to see the light,” she said.

Now she sees that light, and she’s doing everything in her power to move toward it.

“She’s a go-getter,” Molly Flores, director of Our Lady of the Angels, said. “She’s just doing wonderfully to transition.”

Ms. Piper is looking for a new home but will stay at the shelter until Maleki arrives; she doesn’t want to move into a new environment while pregnant. While Ms. Piper will be leaving, her time at the maternity shelter has provided her with the ability to get her life back on track.

“I’m just really happy that I came here to the shelter. Because if it’s meant for God to make a way, then he’ll show you where you need to go and this is where he led me,” she said. “He’s just been good to me every day.”

The shelter has nine beds and houses up to 11 women and children. Up to three children per woman are admitted under the age of 11. The only criterion for the shelter is to be pregnant and homeless.

Following a service plan is important because the women are allowed to stay two weeks to three months before they have their child and six weeks after the birth.

“They need to follow a service plan to apply for government assistance that they need in order to become independent,” Ms. Flores said.

Flores finds a longer-term shelter for the women if they have not found permanent housing.

“I like seeing these ladies come into their own, develop independence and goals for themselves and move into their own place,” Ms. Flores said.

The maternity shelter has seen a decrease in donations since last year. Ms. Flores remembers when people would stop by to deliver cookies and diapers last Christmas. She understands that the economy is suffering, but said the shelter relies mainly on the community for donations.

The Gabriel Project, a Catholic pro-life organization in Austin, founded the shelter in 1990.

Like 28 other local agencies, the maternity shelter receives funding from the United Way of Central Texas, which also has seen a decrease in giving.

United Way has reached 60 percent of its goal of $1,625,000 - in the past they usually have 80 percent raised by this point in the drive, officials said.

“They’re one of the ones we’re most worried about because they don’t have many sources besides United Way and donations,” Ann Thompson, United Way director, said. “They’re pretty much on a shoestring budget.”

United Way is the second largest funder of non-profits behind the federal government, Thompson said.

For information or to donate to the United Way, call 254-778-8616.

To donate to Our Lady of the Angels Maternity Shelter, call 254-742-2340.

bmcclane@temple-telegram.com