Our mission
To welcome every mother facing a crisis pregnancy with a home, practical support and the love of God, so that she can choose life for her baby, heal, and build a hopeful future — knowing she is a beloved daughter of God.
Who we are
There has to be a place.
A promise made in 1991 to a 14-year-old girl became a home for 75 mothers in Houston — and now, a bigger one.
Where it began
Life in Mercy is a Catholic 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Houston, Texas, founded by Zeira Becerra.
In 1991, Zeira Becerra was a 20-year-old immigrant in New York City, working three jobs to make ends meet. Born in Colombia and raised in Venezuela, she had come to the United States as a teenager to care for her mother, who was battling a brain tumor. When a friend offered her a cleaning job, she took it — not knowing it was an abortion facility.
What she saw there changed her life. Zeira refused to look away. She spoke with every woman she could, listened to their stories, and told them the truth about the life they were carrying. More than 800 mothers chose life.
“In this big city that seems to have everything, there is no such place.”
One encounter marked her forever: a 14-year-old girl, six weeks pregnant, who did not want an abortion. Zeira begged her to leave and searched for somewhere she could stay. Through tears, the girl gave her answer. That day Zeira made a vow: there has to be a place.
The years that followed were not easy. Zeira raised her son alone and, at times, had nowhere to sleep. Today she gives thanks for those years — they taught her what it is like to have no one there for you, which is exactly what the mothers she serves are living.
Milestones
- 1991
Zeira Becerra, then 20 and working three jobs in New York City, meets a 14-year-old girl and makes a vow: there has to be a place.
- 2006
She founds Fundación Vida en Misericordia in Colombia.
- 2011
She begins a prayer group in Houston, asking God for a home for mothers.
- 2013
She founds Life in Mercy in the United States. Her testimony airs on EWTN and leads to a donated house.
- 2016
Elaine Trevithick donates the house, and volunteers and donors prepare it for its first mothers.
- 2017
On January 1, Mary, Mother of Life Maternity Home opens its doors in Galena Park, Houston.
Today
At Mary, Mother of Life Maternity Home, 75 mothers facing a crisis pregnancy have found shelter, food, clothing and loving support — whatever their age or stage of pregnancy, and even if they came with other children. To welcome even more, that first house has been sold to buy a larger one.
Our vision
A maternity home in every city of the United States and Colombia — so that no mother ever hears again:
“there is no such place.”
Walk with us
You can help with your time, your support or your prayers.
