Meet Laura Magruder of Maggie’s Place in Central

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Magruder.

Laura, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I joined Maggie’s Place in September 2013, the founder had left February 2013. During the interview process, I toured The Magdalene House in south Phoenix and was moved by the tree of life. This old home has a very tight stairwell to the second floor and the tree consumes the area, names of babies born while their moms lived in that home. I still get goosebumps thinking about all those infants being welcomed into a safe home when only weeks/months earlier their moms were homeless and living on the streets.

When I joined the focus was on housing and over the past four years, we have expanded programming to provide our mothers and their children ongoing services. The Family Resource Center opened in 2014 and is currently offering over 25 programs per month including events; Mother’s Day, Back to School, Halloween Party, and Christmas. We opened our fourth home in Mesa in 2015 and in 2016 renovated a small apartment complex on The Magdalene property to house mothers working on reuniting with their child/ren in DCS custody.

I am driven by a desire to strengthen families, meeting our mothers where they are at and helping them build a solid – hope-filled future. The work is hard, at times sad, but when you see that lives are being changed it is worth it. When you hold a newborn or a mom share that she is celebrating one year sober you know why you show up to work every day. It is an honor to work with a loving, caring staff and to be involved in the mothers’ lives.

Has it been a smooth road?
Chronic homeless, addiction, poverty, are not easy topics to deal with on a daily basis. Knowing there are pregnant women on the streets and that we cannot help them because we are full is heart wrenching. Walking alongside a mom who has had her child removed is an emotional roller coaster. Hurting when a mom suffers a miscarriage. These are the things that keep me up at night.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Maggie’s Place – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Maggie’s Place houses the most vulnerable population, homeless pregnant women. Maggie’s Place provides life-changing programs and services for pregnant and parenting women and their children by offering a warm and welcoming community, a safe place to live and learn, and on-going services to help them become self-sufficient. Maggie’s Place Family Resource Center is located in one of the highest needs zip codes in Arizona with disproportionately high levels of child abuse and neglect as well as chronic homelessness, food insecurity, mental and behavioral health conditions, addiction, joblessness, exposure to violence, trauma, etc.

Maggie’s Place enhances client’s ability to protect and nurture children by building, maintaining and constantly improving a network of family support services. Maggie’s Place has found powerful ways to help families become resilient, stay together and change their lives. Our approach of prevention and interventions has given us the opportunity to have a greater impact on more families.

Our core values:
• Love; every women and child deserves a safe and supportive environment filled with dignity.
• Hospitality; every women and child should have the support of caring community.
• Community; every community can create hope and resilience for its children and families.
• Excellence; demonstrate how children can have a safe and supportive family and every women can improve life outcomes, especially in the areas of education, mental and behavioral health and employment.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Best: Phoenix is a large city with a community feel
Least: lack of social services

Contact Info:

• Address: Maggie’s Place
  Family Resource Center
  4001 N 30th St Phoenix, AZ 85016
• Website:www.maggiesplace.org
• Phone:602-262-5555
• Email:lmagruder@maggiesplace.org
• Instagram:@maggies_place
• Facebook:@maggiesplace
• Twitter:@MaggiesPlaceAZ

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.