Abba House was established by the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock in 1981 to offer a home to pregnant women and their children who have no place to go. It also serves as an emergency shelter for homeless women. The thirteen-bed facility in Little Rock provides shelter, food, and clothing for the women, who may stay two to six weeks after giving birth until they find a place to live. The emergency shelter is available to the homeless for up to three weeks. The Missionaries of Charity sisters, the religious order established by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, have run Abba House since 1983. Four of the sisters live in a convent next to the shelter on South Oak Street. The charity relies completely on donations.
Abba House was among the first ministries developed in the Little Rock diocese to give women an alternative to abortion after abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973. The idea for Abba House came from Father Joseph Nielson, OCD, who had begun praying outside abortion clinics in Little Rock in the 1970s. Nielson began reaching out to women entering the clinic and realized that many of them did not have the resources to care for their babies and might not choose abortion if that were not the case. By May 1979, Nielson began bringing homeless pregnant women to the home of fellow activist Patricia Grabher for shelter. Assisted by several volunteers, the women received care through their pregnancies and help finding a place to live after giving birth.
Before long, the ministry outgrew the small apartment, and the Grabhers moved into a home in southwest Little Rock and continued to take in pregnant women. As Nielson brought more and more women to the home, the Grabhers and other volunteers realized that a larger facility was needed to serve them. The group found a rental house next door for sale at 1002 South Oak Street. Nielson and his volunteers approached Bishop Andrew J. McDonald about purchasing the property, and the diocese bought it on August 4, 1981, through a donation from the Wrape Family Foundation.
Abba House soon became more than the Grabhers could handle. In January 1982, the volunteers, led by Nielson, asked Bishop McDonald to write to Mother Teresa to ask for her sisters to take over the homeless shelter. In April 1982, Sister Priscilla, MC, of New York City, Mother Teresa’s representative in the United States, called and told him that Mother Teresa wanted to visit Little Rock to see Abba House herself before agreeing to send her sisters.
Accompanied by Sister Priscilla, Mother Teresa of Calcutta arrived in Little Rock on June 2, 1982, and stayed with the sisters of the Carmelite Monastery of Sisters of Jesus. Mother Teresa and Bishop McDonald appeared together at a special prayer service in support of Abba House at Ray Winder Baseball Field in Little Rock on June 2. The following day, Bishop McDonald took her to Abba House. After touring the shelter, she addressed the crowd outside, saying, “Gold and silver I have not. That which I have I will give you. I will send you my sisters. Together with you, we will make something beautiful for God.”
As promised, four Missionaries of Charity arrived in Little Rock to take over the ministry of Abba House in July 1983. As missionaries, the sisters are normally reassigned every three years, but there are always four Missionaries of Charity serving at Abba House at any given time.
Abba House is located at 1014 S. Oak Street, Little Rock AR 72204. Council 10208 donated $500 in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fraternal years.