“Mothers need a network as much as people involved in business do.”
— Grace McCord,
Founder, Patterson MOMS Club
At a glance
- WHAT: MOMS Club of Patterson
- WHEN: Second Monday of the month; also several meetings a month with various activities
- FEE: MOMS Club of Patterson membership vice president, Amy Pierce, 892-0975; MOMS Club President Shiloh Allen, 892-2158; or www.momsclub.org
New additions:
- WHEN: Mooks, a new group for Moms of Older Kids
- WHEN: First and third Fridays
- WHERE: Various places; call for details
- INFO: Grace McCord, 892-6996
One of 7-year-old Michael McCord’s first phrases was “MOMS Club.”
Young Michael was a year old when his mother, Grace McCord, started MOMS Club’s Patterson chapter for stay-at-home mothers.
As the McCord family grew, though, McCord’s interests and needs have changed. This year, she’s started a new group to reflect that. Moms of Older Kids, called Mooks, aims to keep mothers getting together even after their children start school.
“The MOMS Club has been such a great help to myself and to my children,” McCord said. “Mothers need a network as much as people involved in business do.”
MOMS Club of Patterson, a nonprofit support group for moms, is part of the MOMS Clubs of California. MOMS Club, short for Moms Offering Moms Support, began in the fall of 1983 with Mary B. James in Simi Valley. Word spread about the support that club offered at-home mothers, and it became a national organization in 1985 and an international group in 1996.
McCord believes in the group so much that she recently became a volunteer for the international club to help other chapters as an area coordinator. She volunteers to read other chapters’ newsletters and answers questions they might have.
Closer to home, McCord figured that with the population growth in Patterson, there must be other mothers whose children are all in school but who want to stay involved with MOMS Club-type activities. Thus, Mooks was born.
Mom Paulette Gordon recently went shopping with other Mooks members and then stopped for lunch at a local eatery. She says she’s already looking forward to future field trips.
“It’s nice to be with other women who have a lot in common with me,” Gordon said. “We all have kids in school and we like to talk about schools, teachers, homework and the like.”
Patterson MOMS Club president Shiloh Allen said she is excited about the new group, too.
“Just because you don’t have toddlers or babies, it doesn’t mean you still can’t get together with other moms,” Allen said.
Besides their monthly meetings, MOMS socialize over breakfast, coffee or a stroll around town, or they simply hang out and share stories.
The club is the only international support group just for at-home mothers.
To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at
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