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Averting crises
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| Barbara Walker, the executive director for the Pregnancy Crisis Center, holds a model of a life-like, 30-week-old baby. The Pregnancy Crisis Center offers counseling for women who are ‘scared, alone and pregnant and not ready to tell their parents,’ Walker said. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Pro-life center offers aid to mothers with crisis pregnancies
By JOHNNA PINHOLSTER
jpinholster@lakecityreporter.com
The Pregnancy Crisis Center has been helping expectant women transition into motherhood by lending a helping hand and providing a shoulder to lean on since 1984.
“We assist moms and give them the courage to birth babies,” Executive Director Barbara Walker said.
Walker defines a crisis pregnancy as one that is unwanted or unplanned, a situation that can make women scared and confused about what will happen to them and their infants.
“In some cases they are pressured to abort or make an immediate decision,” Walker said.
Making such a life-changing decision without support or the proper information can affect a woman for the rest of her life, Walker said.
“The first words out of their mouth are ‘I can’t,’” Walker said. “We say ‘you can’ and show them how.”
The faith-based organization is pro-life, but a women are placed under no pressure to make a decision about their futures and can leave at any time they feel uncomfortable, Walker said.
“We are here to educate women on the risks associated with abortions,” Walker said. “We do not refer out for abortions. We show them the risks and counsel them on the risks involved.”
Walker estimates that between 60 to 70 people visit the Lake City center each month.
The volunteers at the center counsel expectant mothers on prenatal care and what will need to be done once the child is born. The center has two counseling rooms where expectant mothers can view models of what their baby looks like in the womb, talk with volunteers and watch various videos on birth and becoming a mother.
All the services at the center are free, but women are required to fill out a form upon arrival and, if unsure if they are actually pregnant, they will be given a free
pregnancy test.
If patients are not pregnant, Walker said, the center will counsel the women on abstinence and secondary virginity. She eventually hopes to get out to the local middle and high schools to educate students on the benefits of abstinence.
“I say that we are here to educate, equip and empower women with knowledge they need to be successful,” Walker said.
A woman is welcome to come back to the center has often as she likes after she has had the baby for mental support, Walker said. The center gives out donated baby supplies to those in need for newborns to two years old.
Churches, local organizations and individuals keep the center open by donating baby items and monetary gifts, Walker said.
“It is 100 percent donated — we get no state or federal funding because we are a Christian organization,” Walker said.
If a woman does not want to raise the child, the center will refer her to adoption agencies. The center also provides referrals to women to help them find housing, employment and education, Walker said.
Any information an expectant mother tells a volunteer at the center is confidential.
There is a Pregnancy Crisis Center in Live Oak as well. Both centers are staffed by volunteers, with two site managers overseeing each location.
“Volunteers play a very critical role,” Walker said. “We want them to be pro-life and for them to focus on the mother carrying the baby to term.”
Walker has only been with the Center for a month and a half but she has big dreams for the future of the program.
She hopes to eventually provide some medical services at the center, which would involve getting a local doctor to volunteer his or her services.
An ultra-sound machine was recently donated to the center, but will have to wait to be used until Walker finds a room to put it in and a physician to work it.
“We want to be able to show women images and sounds of their babies,” Walker said. “So they understand that this is not a glob of tissue growing inside of them.”
Single dads and grandparents raising children are also welcome to stop by the center and pick up donated items or speak with a volunteer about arising problems, Walker said.
But while the donated items are given out for free, they still have to earn the right to receive the products, Walker said.
“We want mothers to have responsibility,” Walker said. “So we have the mommy money program.”
When a woman comes in to be counseled or to watch an educational video they are given a dollar of mommy money and can make purchases for baby items at the center. One dollar of mommy money will give a woman 24 diapers, Walker said. Baby clothes, blankets, toys and other items are available at the center.
“We teach them how to be accountable for themselves,” Walker said. “They would fail if we handed them everything.”
Walker said she was compelled to apply for the job after seeing the ad in the newspaper.
“I am passionate about women’s ministries and I am an advocate for the unheard, in this case that is the unborn baby,” Walker said.
She said that she and the volunteers serve as inspiration by sharing their personal
stories and how they overcame hardships and succeeded.
A spring bike ride on March 29 will raise money for the center and is being sponsored by American Performance Cycles of North Florida, Baya Auto and Columbia County Cycles. Walker said there will be a Parade of Life Back to School Fashion Show at the Lake City Mall on July 26 and a walk/run in the fall.
The Lake City center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call the Lake City center at (386) 755-0058 or Live Oak at (386) 330-2229.
“We assist moms and give them the courage to birth babies,” Executive Director Barbara Walker said.
Walker defines a crisis pregnancy as one that is unwanted or unplanned, a situation that can make women scared and confused about what will happen to them and their infants.
“In some cases they are pressured to abort or make an immediate decision,” Walker said.
Making such a life-changing decision without support or the proper information can affect a woman for the rest of her life, Walker said.
“The first words out of their mouth are ‘I can’t,’” Walker said. “We say ‘you can’ and show them how.”
The faith-based organization is pro-life, but a women are placed under no pressure to make a decision about their futures and can leave at any time they feel uncomfortable, Walker said.
“We are here to educate women on the risks associated with abortions,” Walker said. “We do not refer out for abortions. We show them the risks and counsel them on the risks involved.”
Walker estimates that between 60 to 70 people visit the Lake City center each month.
The volunteers at the center counsel expectant mothers on prenatal care and what will need to be done once the child is born. The center has two counseling rooms where expectant mothers can view models of what their baby looks like in the womb, talk with volunteers and watch various videos on birth and becoming a mother.
All the services at the center are free, but women are required to fill out a form upon arrival and, if unsure if they are actually pregnant, they will be given a free
pregnancy test.
If patients are not pregnant, Walker said, the center will counsel the women on abstinence and secondary virginity. She eventually hopes to get out to the local middle and high schools to educate students on the benefits of abstinence.
“I say that we are here to educate, equip and empower women with knowledge they need to be successful,” Walker said.
A woman is welcome to come back to the center has often as she likes after she has had the baby for mental support, Walker said. The center gives out donated baby supplies to those in need for newborns to two years old.
Churches, local organizations and individuals keep the center open by donating baby items and monetary gifts, Walker said.
“It is 100 percent donated — we get no state or federal funding because we are a Christian organization,” Walker said.
If a woman does not want to raise the child, the center will refer her to adoption agencies. The center also provides referrals to women to help them find housing, employment and education, Walker said.
Any information an expectant mother tells a volunteer at the center is confidential.
There is a Pregnancy Crisis Center in Live Oak as well. Both centers are staffed by volunteers, with two site managers overseeing each location.
“Volunteers play a very critical role,” Walker said. “We want them to be pro-life and for them to focus on the mother carrying the baby to term.”
Walker has only been with the Center for a month and a half but she has big dreams for the future of the program.
She hopes to eventually provide some medical services at the center, which would involve getting a local doctor to volunteer his or her services.
An ultra-sound machine was recently donated to the center, but will have to wait to be used until Walker finds a room to put it in and a physician to work it.
“We want to be able to show women images and sounds of their babies,” Walker said. “So they understand that this is not a glob of tissue growing inside of them.”
Single dads and grandparents raising children are also welcome to stop by the center and pick up donated items or speak with a volunteer about arising problems, Walker said.
But while the donated items are given out for free, they still have to earn the right to receive the products, Walker said.
“We want mothers to have responsibility,” Walker said. “So we have the mommy money program.”
When a woman comes in to be counseled or to watch an educational video they are given a dollar of mommy money and can make purchases for baby items at the center. One dollar of mommy money will give a woman 24 diapers, Walker said. Baby clothes, blankets, toys and other items are available at the center.
“We teach them how to be accountable for themselves,” Walker said. “They would fail if we handed them everything.”
Walker said she was compelled to apply for the job after seeing the ad in the newspaper.
“I am passionate about women’s ministries and I am an advocate for the unheard, in this case that is the unborn baby,” Walker said.
She said that she and the volunteers serve as inspiration by sharing their personal
stories and how they overcame hardships and succeeded.
A spring bike ride on March 29 will raise money for the center and is being sponsored by American Performance Cycles of North Florida, Baya Auto and Columbia County Cycles. Walker said there will be a Parade of Life Back to School Fashion Show at the Lake City Mall on July 26 and a walk/run in the fall.
The Lake City center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call the Lake City center at (386) 755-0058 or Live Oak at (386) 330-2229.
