Editor’s Note: This is part of our Celebrate Community series, which highlights nonprofit organizations that improve Santa Rosa County residents’ quality of life.
MILTON — The nonprofit, faith-based Pregnancy Resource Center of Milton offers a support system for women with unplanned pregnancies.
“We have young women who come in; most have an unplanned pregnancy,” Executive Director Cynthia Roberts said. “We give them a free pregnancy test and we discuss what their options are.”
Those options include parenting and adoption; the topic of abortion is discussed but never proposed by the organization.
“We talk to them openly and lovingly in a non-judgmental manner,” Roberts said. “We do educate the girls on what abortion is; we never refer or suggest for an abortion.”
If the woman continues the pregnancy, the center offers several services to help mothers-to-be.
The Hope program offers an ‘earn while you learn’ curriculum with prenatal, parenting, child safety, life skills and Bible study classes.
In a partnership with PRC, Roberts said specialists from the University of West Florida extension office and the local health department occasionally offer input during the curriculum.
The classes serve both men and women. Through taking one-hour classes at the Stewart Street facility, attendees can earn ‘baby bucks’ they can use to buy diapers, baby clothes, strollers, car seats and cribs.
“This year, overall, we had about 150 clients, so far,” Roberts said. “They will come in at different stages. Our general demographic is 18 to 24.”
The organization currently is raising funds to offer free ultrasounds to women in their first trimester of pregnancy in early 2017; and, by late 2017 or early 2018, PRC staffers hope to have purchased a mobile unit, Roberts said.
“A lot of girls who would like to come to us, who need to come to us, can’t,” Roberts said. “So we are going to take our services out to them.”
The PRC plans to work with ICU Mobile, which will provide training.
The organization plans to raise funds for the items through an annual banquet and other fundraisers. On Saturday, the organization had their second ‘Walk for Life’ fundraising event in Pace.
Roberts said proceeds from this year’s walk would be used to assist in the organization’s general fund, while next years’ will be used to fund the mobile unit.
The center always needs more volunteers because there’s no limit on the number of clients served, Roberts said.
“We just open our doors to anyone who needs our help,” she said.
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What: Pregnancy Resource Center of Milton
Where: 5736 Stewart Street in Milton
When: From 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Contact: Call (850) 983-2730 for more information or visit prcofmilton.org
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pregnancy Resource Center raising funds for ultrasounds, mobile unit