The Union County Pregnancy Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary today with a drop-in from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
"We want to celebrate being in this ministry for 10 years," said director Lisa Hartley. "We invite former clients and their children to come so we can see how they are doing. We hope to make a group picture. We also invite our supporters to come."
Dessert will be served. The center is located on 115 East Main St.
The center's purpose is to provide a Christian pregnancy care center, which exists to provide education and support to women facing unplanned pregnancies. The goal is to equip each individual to provide for herself and her child so they will be productive members of society.
The center opened June 9, 1998.
“We have seen over a thousand unduplicated clients," Mrs. Hartley said. "We have seen the lives of many women and their precious children changed. We have had the opportunity to develop lasting relationships with these women and their children that we believe will make a difference in their lives."
The center has gained support from the community, local churches, businesses and volunteers, Mrs. Hartley said.
"We rely on donations from churches, businesses, groups and individuals in the community for funding," she said. "Some people send donations on a monthly basis, others give periodically and still others send in one-time gifts. We are support monthly by a number of local churches: Trinity Baptist, New Beginnings Church, and Foster's Chapel Methodist. Many other churches have helped us raise funds for our new roof: Tabernacle Baptist, Morningside, Foster's Chapel Methodist and Trinity Baptist."
Still other churches and women's organization host baby showers to provide items for the center's “Baby Boutique,” The center is supported by the United Way, which provides funding for the “Baby Bucks Program,” an incentive program that allows the women we serve to earn things they need for their children. They earn “Baby Bucks,” token money, by taking part in educational opportunities such as parenting classes, GED classes, and answering questions from literature on a variety of topics. They can then spend their “Baby Bucks” in the center's “Baby Boutique.” Mrs. Hartley said the belief of the center is that no child should go without having their basic needs met (food and clothing).
"We do not have paid staff; volunteers operate the ministry," she said. "All volunteers receive training. A board of directors oversees the work of the ministry. Volunteers serve as trained peer counselors, receptionists, clothes sorters, and instructors. This year we learned of the AARP program in which they pay individuals to work in nonprofit organizations. We have two individuals working through AARP."
The center served 271 primary customers (any woman who faces an unplanned pregnancy or pregnancy in which they lack the necessary skills to parent) and 355 dependent children of its primary customers.
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