Pastor Ann Marie Richards officially has three biological children but unofficially has been a mother to more than 50.
Richards, who operates the Stars of Hope Community Outreach programme on Manchester Avenue in May Pen, is an I Believe Initiative ambassador who received The Governor Generals Award for her philanthropic work in Clarendon as well as other parishes.
The outreach programme has seen many lives changed positively through interventions that ‘straighten out’ many children, teens and families.
For years, Richards and her husband have been serving May Pen and surrounding communities such as Denbigh and Four Paths through their organisations, Voice of Victory Ministries and Stars of Hope Outreach Programme.
Through mentorship and welfare assistance, as well as by taking many into their homes, Ann Marie and her late husband, Elricka Richards, assisted many whose stories might have been tragic had they not intervened.
In an interview with Freedom Come Rain, Richards said she has lost count of the number of children the programme has impacted, as many came to her wounded, feeling hopeless, and left with renewed purpose and a second chance at life.
Ann Marie shared that she instills the value of serving and caring for others in not only her children but all the young people who come around her. She does this in the hope that the legacy will continue even after she is gone.
The Richards moved from Kingston in 1993, “uprooting” suddenly with their family, to the parish. According to Ann Marie, at the time she recalled, there were so many things that were missing in their lives.
“But when we looked around, we saw others who had more missing than what we were missing, and as we normally do, we do everything together, so we decided that we would ensure that children and families could really get some help in different ways,” she highlighted.
Pastor Ann Marie Richards and late husband Elricka
For years, the couple has been giving food packages, personal packages, scholarships, and just about everything that a family needs. “Whether a bus fare or lunch money for the week, stuff like that,” Richards pointed out.
It is a feel good moment for her, as her son has now taken up the mantle and is walking in their footsteps. Sharing with a sense of pride, she said he has been going into communities to help people at least once per month, or as often as they are able to do that.
Commenting on the joys of motherhood, Richards said there is nothing like it. For her, just to know that she can help shape lives to be their best versions, to show them God’s love in action, and to make herself available, giving them the confidence to come and talk things over with her—that is a gift.
“I love being a mother, not for my biological children only, but for all those who need mothering. Which is why I can’t help myself and am always ‘adopting’ anyone I come in contact with who needs that shoulder to cry on [and] that understanding ear,” she shared.