National Ambassador, Katie Forbrich

On a recent milestone birthday, Katie Forbrich found herself thinking about her earliest days. Like so many, she and her older brother had been adopted out of OLV Infant Home. And, like so many, her thoughts never seemed to have left the “City of Charity” completely, no matter where life took her.

“It is with gratitude that I think of my birth mom finding her way to ‘Father Baker’s’ where she found acceptance, care, and love. My (adopted) mom and dad also found their way there and, by God’s grace, I was given my own home filled with acceptance, care, and love,” she says.

After getting married in 1972, Katie and her husband, Dick, moved away from Western New York and started a family of her own. They didn’t make the trip back to OLV until about 10 years ago, joining her brother for what was a moving experience.

“I recall my brother and I just standing outside the Infant Home building, sharing stories of what we imagined might have happened inside,” she recalls with a smile. “We discovered the Father Baker Museum in the Basilica and it took our breath away for so many reasons. I was struck most by the image of Father Baker surrounded by babies and toddlers, all dressed in white, bows in the girls’ hair. We were struck by the idea that this was not an institution, rather it was a home, one led by a caring and loving father.”

Now, Katie, a resident of Germantown, Md., always makes a point of returning to OLV whenever she’s in town. “My homecomings always include a visit. Here, I am welcomed by dear friends who are eager to share their joy of continuing Father Baker’s legacy, a legacy of offering a helping hand to those in need. And for that, I am ever so grateful!”