Our History

Mary's Room was started by St. Paul's Episcopal Church in response to the need demonstrated by the statistics in Watertown, WI.  We have high unemployment relative to surrounding areas, access to safe low income housing is limited and wages and benefits for unskilled labor make it difficult for women in particular to provide for their children especially if they are the sole wage earners.

 

Meanwhile, at the national level, critical research continues to show that emotional stability and good nutrition in the 0-3 age range prevent many problems for those children down the road.  We have an excellent Food Pantry in Watertown, the federal Women and Infants Program, known as WIC, provides basic nutrition for infants but there have been no programs to provide diapers, wipes, furniture, blankets and all the other things babies need when they come into the world.

 

Seeing the need in Watertown, St. Paul's Episcopal Church decided to take a leap of faith with this outreach program.  After deciding to serve infants and children up to 24 months with diapers, wipes, clothing and furniture, St. Paul's started collecting in the summer of 2011 and opened Mary's Room Ministry on August 1, 2011!