A Marathon for the Cottage House

When Sean O'Donnell first heard about Life Turning Point, he didn’t know that a few connections and conversations would eventually lead him to lace up his running shoes for the Philadelphia Marathon and run on behalf of the Cottage House Project.

His connection to LTP began through a friend and former LTP resident, Rachel, whom he met through their church community.

I support LTP because I have seen first hand the impact LTP has on Rachel Gerstenberg. She invited me to her recent graduation from LTP. She used to attend a church in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, Redemption Heights. That’s where I got baptized. I was a member there for a number of years. 

But that wasn’t the only way Life Turning Point entered Sean’s life.

He remembered another woman from the church who needed housing for herself and her two children. Someone mentioned Life Turning Point as a possible resource, and Sean remembers participating in prayer calls, asking God to open the door for her.

Then, in 2024, another unexpected connection happened.

I participated in a golf outing with Alpha Care, a pregnancy center in West Philadelphia and I was paired with Dee Adcock, president of Life Turning Point, and his wife, Sandy. Spending several hours together on the golf course gave me an opportunity to hear more about Dee’s heart for the ministry. He’s a good talker, too. He did pretty well. Dee was instrumental back during COVID in reopening  the property. Hearing his heart for the ministry from that point on, I wanted to know more. I wanted to volunteer, but the doors didn’t really seem to open.

Eventually, Sean changed churches and began attending Risen Christ Fellowship, only a few blocks from Life Turning Point.

When I moved less than a mile from LTP, I thought, ‘All right, let me walk into Life Turning Point, introduce myself, get to know Rita and some of the other people there, and see how I can help out.’ Because of this I feel even more connected to the community I call home. I am happy to be a volunteer!

These initial conversations nurtured a relationship that has grown between Sean and the LTP community.

Sean’s next step with Life Turning Point came through the Cottage House campaign.

I heard about the campaign through the email blasts. Then I think I said something to Joan, like, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about doing a marathon at the end of November. I would love to leverage it for the benefit of Life Turning Point, if that’s at all possible.

The idea was brought up again at Sean’s church, and the conversation continued from there.

Between Rita, Joan and I we were like, ‘Okay, let’s sit down, talk this through, and see how we can make this happen.

And just like that, the idea of running the Philadelphia Marathon for Life Turning Point began to take shape. But Sean’s desire to support LTP isn’t completely separate from the work he has already done with women and children. Before volunteering with LTP, Sean served with Alpha Care, a pregnancy center in West Philadelphia. His role involved answering calls during off-hours, giving the staff a break from having to respond to calls around the clock.

Throughout law school, I served in that role. Oftentimes I’d be answering phone calls from women who usually already have a number of children, and now they find themselves unexpectedly pregnant and are facing that decision about whether or not to continue with that pregnancy.

The experience wasn't simply another volunteer position for Sean. He says God used it to change the way he saw and responded to women facing difficult circumstances.

I think God grew me a lot in that role—to have compassion and a tenderness and a soft heart to actually hear these women. They’re facing stuff that I’m not facing, encountering things that don’t creep up into my life. I think that was a sanctifying role that perhaps enlarged my heart to women and their children.

Now, living and working in the Germantown/East Falls area, Sean says he wants to continue paying attention to the people around him.

I’d like an open mind. Like, ‘Okay, Lord, now I’m in this neighborhood. So how can I observe the women and children and men and teenagers that are near me?

The Philadelphia Marathon is scheduled for November 22, giving him just weeks to continue training and preparing for the 26.2-mile journey.

I’ve shared it with my church and a couple of my other networks. There are still a couple more people I want to loop in, including the associate class of attorneys at my firm. I’m also active on a running app that has a pretty tight-knit community. People there also run, so they know what’s involved. I want to circulate the campaign page to them. And then maybe last of all, I’ll put it on Facebook. My aunts and uncles usually like to show some love and support when I post on Facebook.

But one of his biggest ways of spreading the word will be much simpler. He’ll wear the Life Turning Point shirt.

Now that I’ve begun spreading the word about Life Turning Point, I think when I wear a shirt that says ‘Life Turning Point,’ it’ll jog people’s memories. They’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re running for Life Turning Point. Tell me about that.

And that may be one of the most meaningful parts of this marathon. 

Sean isn't simply running to complete 26.2 miles. He is using something he has already committed himself to, running, to bring attention to a place and a project he has come to care about.

The Cottage House Project represents another step in Life Turning Point’s ongoing work to support young mothers as they transition toward greater independence and stability for themselves and their children.

And on November 22, Sean will carry that mission with him, one mile at a time.