ABOUT US:

Guiding Star Tampa (GST), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide holistic women’s care and pregnancy and birthing services to the Tampa Bay area. Tammara (Tammy) Masut is one of the founding members of GST and currently serves as the Clinical Director and interim Executive Director. There are four permanent board members with three at large members joining our team.

In February 2022 GST became an affiliate of the Guiding Star Project. The Guiding Star Project is a nationwide family of care centers that empower women to understand, embrace, and love their natural bodies. They facilitate cooperation between compassionate care providers to serve women and families in a growing community of convenient, professional, and welcoming locations. They are passionate about providing holistic women’s care and prenatal care which offers women a whole-life approach that honors their bodies, minds, and spirits. GST is aligned with the foundation of the national project and its purpose-driven mission.

GST only exists as a virtual (internet) location at present. Equipment donations that are received are stored in a donated space in a warehouse until a suitable physical location is found. One of the criteria for the location of GST is to establish it on a transportation route that is easily accessible to the women we hope to serve. GST will establish its office once a proper facility is purchased or leased through donations and fundraising. Our planned timeline is within the next six to nine months. GST would like to be in a safe, welcoming facility that can accommodate the growing need to educate women of all ages about their ability to make informed decisions about their health with an appropriate care provider. GST has established this internet website with the purpose to promote its mission and provide a secure way to make online donations.

Guiding Star Tampa is an affiliate location of The National Guiding Star Project — a U.S. based family of women’s wholistic healthcare centers.

The National Guiding Star Project’s affiliate locations share a vision for empowering women to understand, embrace, and love their wonderful bodies. We facilitate the work of compassionate healthcare providers who serve women and families in convenient, professional Guiding Star locations. We’re creating the “new norm” in women’s healthcare.

WHO WE SERVE:

Women — We support teens, women with planned and unplanned pregnancies, women working through infertility, and those seeking healthcare in other stages along the journey.

Families — We serve women, men, and children with enriching family life services and resources.

Community — Guiding Star Tampa will meet needs within greater Tampa Bay to make our world a more beautiful place, one life at a time.

FAQs

We are a group of people who uphold Natural Law through the promotion of New Feminism.
We believe…

  • In the inherent dignity of every human being beginning with natural conception and ending with natural death
  • In holistic solutions to the many challenges women face in our society today
  • In each woman’s innate ability to nourish life, either physically or spiritually
  • That fertility, childbirth, and breastfeeding are natural biological processes and that knowledge of them empowers women
  • That every life is unique, holds potential, and deserves celebration regardless of the circumstances of conception, status, or health
  • That abortion and contraception interrupt natural, healthy biological processes.

Meet Our Board of Team

By uniting local pro-life organizations in communities across the country, it is our mission to create comprehensive health centers that offer holistic and life-affirming services to women and families.
By establishing a national network of Guiding Star Centers, we seek to create a culture that …

  • Recognizes the true beauty and dignity of women and their families
  • Honors and upholds the natural feminine gifts and abilities
  • Encourages women in all circumstances to embrace their dignity and find empowerment through these gifts and abilities
  • Respects the dignity and value of all human persons
  • Acknowledges that all women are connected by their unique feminine abilities

  • The problem: Women need alternatives. 
The world of women’s healthcare does not currently provide natural, holistic, pro-life, or pro-family care.

Where holistic or life-affirming care is available, it is often hard to find and serves only a small segment of the population.

Women experiencing unplanned or crisis pregnancies often feel isolated and think that abortion is their only feasible option. Resources that they need are often difficult to find and time-consuming to access. Multiple services are rarely located in a single location.

The truth about life and the dignity of women and motherhood should be celebrated in the mainstream!

  • Our solution: To create alternatives.
We are working to establish a nationwide family of Guiding Star Centers that will provide support for natural means of family planning, fertility care, childbirth, breastfeeding, and family life.

Guiding Star Centers will be evident by their empowering atmosphere and the convenience of a “one-stop shop” for all the support women and families need to honor their natural gift of fertility and the important role of motherhood. These Centers will meet the needs of everyday people in holistic, life-affirming ways. We will facilitate cooperation between many providers to better serve women and families in one convenient, professional, welcoming location.

Guiding Star Centers are fundamental to the mission of The Guiding Star Project. Each Center is to be officially affiliated with The Guiding Star Project and will be created by gathering existing pro-woman and pro-life organizations from the community into one shared space. Together, these organizations will offer comprehensive care for women and their families. While the resources found in a center will reflect the unique needs of the community in which it resides, some common elements may include:

  • Pregnancy Resource Center — Counseling and material assistance for women with unplanned pregnancies, including access to an ultrasound machine.
  • Prenatal Care and Birthing Center — Life-affirming care and natural support for pregnant and postpartum women and their families; this may include medical or midwifery care, doula support, lactation consulting, and perinatal hospice care.
  • Clinical Space —  Shared by the pregnancy resource center, care providers, and the birthing center; providing mammograms, STD testing, well-women yearly exams, and as many other family practice services as possible.
  • Natural Family Planning —Training and support for women’s natural fertility care.
  • Drop-in Child Care — A safe, nurturing place for children to play while their families are visiting the center.
  • Lounge Space and Resource Center — Access to help with school or employment and information about outside resources. A peaceful space for women waiting to receive care, or those who come to the Center just because they need a break from a day of stressful parenting.
  • Community Conference Space — Meeting space available to partner and community organizations.
  • Administration Office and Call Center — 24-hour call center and workspace for volunteers and administrators.

There are many services that could fit effortlessly into the Guiding Star Model. Others may include post-abortion counseling, adoption services, pharmacy, massage therapy, nutritional counseling, and early childhood education. Other holistic services could have a place, too – amenities such as a coffee shop for a chance to relax with friends, a massage therapy studio, an organic market, or a consignment clothing store. Each Guiding Star Center will offer varying services according the needs in its community. One possible layout is pictured below:

The local pro—life community includes many organizations working toward a shared goal of serving women who face unplanned and crisis pregnancies. Because they work side-by—side in the same community, these organizations find themselves competing for resources and referrals.

Benefits to organizations that collaborate according to the Guiding Star Model include:

Increased visibility —Partner organizations will have access to rent-free space in one large building with prominent signage displayed on the exterior.

Strengthened credibility —Organizations associated with The Guiding Star Project will have national brand recognition.

Multiplied fundraising capability —Organizations will have the opportunity to participate in a fundraising collaborative.

By creating a fundraising collaborative, participating organizations will have the ability to share the work of fundraising while increasing their donor pool. Additionally, by providing member organizations with shared administrative resources such as shared office equipment, utilities, and rent-free space, The Guiding Star Project believes we can reduce the annual operating costs of cooperating partners by as much as 20%. By sharing administrative expenses, Guiding Star partner organizations may save up to 20% of their annual operating costs.

Natural Law is an ethical principal that governs human behavior. It is based on the idea that our world exists according to a natural order — which can be known by human reason — and that abandonment of this order will result in eventual chaos. Natural Law is the ethical directive for our Mission.

Wholistic feminism is a cultural movement rising in response to the previous wave of feminism that is still prominent in our culture today.
“Old feminism” is based on the idea that men and women are interchangeable and that women have been unfairly held back from achieving their potential in society because of their role as mothers in the home.
Women made many positive strides through feminism, but over time, this movement has discouraged women from expressing their natural fertility and choosing motherhood for fear that it will detract from their success in the academic and corporate worlds. Today we see men and women pitted against each other in competition, and women are separated from their very natural desires to welcome others into their care. “Women’s rights” has become a term synonymous with abortion and contraception. Women have been led to believe that they cannot be ‘equal’ or have successful careers if they choose to be mothers. Women are taught that their fertility is a thing to be “fixed” and that family planning is their “problem.”

We at The Guiding Star Project embrace the philosophy of wholistic feminism, a growing movement which crosses many cultural, religious, and political persuasions.

There are many lies spoken to women about their bodies, their talents, and their gift of being created women. Wholistic feminism answers this by viewing femininity through a lens of hope and joy. We honor the unique feminine genius – the way women think, perceive, and love as women – and celebrate that these strengths are compatible with the strengths of others.

We know that true feminine success is measured by a woman’s love for others. Not all women will physically mother children of their own, but we believe that every woman has been created with gifts that can nurture the world. This is the vital contribution every woman must make to build up a culture of life and love.

Wholistic feminism gives positive attention to the female body, honoring and upholding its unique and natural abilities. We believe that women’s bodies are not broken but are beautifully created, and that they deserve care, respect, and understanding. We reject the idea that a woman’s body must look flawless in order for the woman to be lovable. We uphold that fertility, childbirth, and breastfeeding are natural, healthy biological processes and that knowledge of them empowers women. We understand the benefits of natural methods of family planning and fertility care and are excited about the medical advancements being made in this area of women’s healthcare.

Wholistic feminists know that contraception and abortion interrupt natural, healthy biological processes and are not in the best interest of women or their families. We believe that women should not be forced to choose between their children and their education or careers. We support women who courageously choose to embrace motherhood in difficult circumstances.

The Guiding Star Project is accepting applications from persons wishing to establish Guiding Star Centers in their communities.
Criteria for Affiliate Development
Communities will be selected for affiliate development by the national Board of Directors based on a set of criteria that includes, among other things: the proximity of this community to an abortion facility, local leadership, and the ability of pro-life groups in the community to work together cooperatively.

Local Leadership

One or two people in each community are needed to serve as the Project Coordinator(s). This is a volunteer position and will require a strong line of communication and willingness to work directly with national leadership of The Guiding Star Project.

Gathering Resources

The Guiding Star Project will partner with the Project Coordinator(s) to facilitate the process of pulling together a team of local service providers who wish to incorporate together as a Guiding Star Center.

Governance

Each Guiding Star Center will legally incorporate their organization with their State. Each Center will be governed by a local Board of Directors who, in turn, is governed by a binding Affiliation Agreement with The Guiding Star Project. This agreement outlines types of support that will be provided by The Guiding Star Project and, in exchange, expectations of the Affiliate. An affiliation fee based on a scale of development milestones will also be charged on an annual basis.

Taking the first step on a purposeful journey

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of a Guiding Star Center in your community, we’d love to talk with you.

You can contact us in several ways.

Write to us at: The Guiding Star Project, PO Box 238 Ironton, MN 56455

Email us at contact@theguidingstarproject.com, or click below.

If you are interested in opening a center in your area, you can learn more by emailing us at contact@theguidingstarproject.com.