We recently connected with Heather McCaskill and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

At One by One Ministries it is our mission to mentor and educate new moms to parent well. It is our vision that all moms accept God’s love and parent well so children thrive!

One by One trains mentors using an evidence-based curriculum and matches them to pregnant and new moms looking for support. Many of the moms we serve are experiencing unplanned pregnancies and are scared, alone, without many resources, and without the skills needed to be a good mom. Our mentors provide friendship, support, parent education, and life skills lessons to moms so they will parent well and their children will thrive. We want every mom to know that she has value and worth, that the Lord has a plan for her life and the life of her baby, and that He desires personal relationship with her.

Each mentor and mom talk each week and meet each month throughout the mom’s pregnancy and at least until her child turns one. Mentors teach pre- and postnatal baby health, wellness, safety, and development, and they provide activities for moms to do with their babies to support their development in language, emotional, social, and motor skills. When appropriate, mentors also connect moms to other organizations providing resources relating to housing, transportation, child care, job training, education, counseling, etc.

We enroll moms who are pregnant or who have children three months old or younger as our curriculum focuses on the important development occurring between birth and age three. We want to help moms become their children’s first and best teachers so their children are prepared for kindergarten when the time comes. Studies show children who are prepared for kindergarten are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college or trade school, and earn a job with a livable wage. The majority of our moms are from under-resourced and underserved communities; more than half are receiving government assistance in the form of WIC, SNAP, government sponsored health care, etc. In addition to helping our moms learn to parent well, we support our moms in their desires to complete their education or train for better jobs so that they can support themselves and their children. Helping moms and their babies in these ways will help break the cycle of generational poverty for some of our families.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been married to my husband Greg for 27 years and we have 3 grown sons. After being a stay-at-home mom for 11 years, I was excited to begin working for a faith-based ministry when my youngest child started kindergarten. As a Christian, I felt called to get outside the walls of my church and be more involved in my community. One by One Ministries’ mentoring program provides a very practical way for women to support other women at a critical time in their lives: as they enter motherhood.

By providing pregnant women and new moms with their very own mentors, we equip them with the skills, parenting education, connection to resources, and emotional support needed to succeed. At One by One Ministries we say, “choose life and we will help!” Pregnancy centers and health clinics can provide pregnancy options, confirmation of pregnancy and ultrasounds, but at One by One we provide the long-term follow-up support mothers need after the baby is born.

I am so proud of the women we serve who are making life-affirming decisions for their children in the face of very difficult circumstances. At One by One Ministries we serve any mom, of any age, of any socio-economic background. We serve first time moms as well as moms who already have other children. We want every expectant/new mom to know that she does not have to do it alone! One by One Ministries is here to offer unconditional love and support, to equip her to be a great parent, and to help her raise her child in a safe and secure environment.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Our clients are the moms we have been serving for more than 25 years. We were founded in San Antonio, TX and have since expanded into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area; Memphis, TN; and several smaller communities in West TN, North MS, and most recently into Garden City, KS. We also launched a virtual program in the spring of 2023 so we are now able to virtually serve any mom in the US. We also offer our program in Spanish for the Spanish-speaking mom.

Our mentors build long-lasting relationships with our moms through weekly contact by phone or text and monthly in-person mentoring visits (our virtual mentors/moms meet through zoom or facetime for monthly visits). In addition, twice each year at Mother’s Day and Christmas, we host One by One Mom Blessing Days to provide our moms with material items (flowers, candy and gifts at Mother’s Day; Walmart gift cards, presents for mom and baby, new and gently used clothes and baby equipment at Christmas).

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

At One by One we depend on referrals from community partners to connect with the moms (clients) we serve. Historically our referrals came through churches and Pregnancy Centers, but over the years we have also begun receiving referrals from schools, health clinics, community agencies where women/moms are served. In 2023 we began working with a company to manage our Google grant, and we are beginning to see more moms come to us through internet searches.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.onebyoneusa.org
• Instagram: onebyoneministries
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onebyoneministries
• Youtube: @onebyoneministries5124
• Other: We also have a website specifically for our moms/clients: www.onebyoneformoms.org