Many of you are well aware that HOPE isn’t your typical medical clinic. We celebrate our medical expertise and the services we are able to offer, but this is not all we do. We, thankfully, are able to serve our patients holistically…mind, body, and spirit. We understand that many of our patients’ needs go far beyond the medical realm. This is why we offer parenting classes as they prepare for the arrival of their child.
We typically offer three class sessions throughout the year with each session lasting 10 weeks. These classes offer a great opportunity for our experts to discuss safe-sleep, nutrition, labor and delivery, finances, and goals. We do not take these sessions lightly. We understand and firmly believe that our pro-life stance must not stop at the exam room. Our stance, instead, should drive us to stand for these moms and their babies as delivery approaches.
I bring this topic up today because this week we will start another session. This session, however, looks different than any other session HOPE has ever offered. This difference is not in strategy or implementation, but in numbers. This current class session is the largest group of patients we have ever served in class as we welcome 22 moms!
This gives HOPE 22 opportunities to stand for a mom, to stand for a baby, to stand for a family, and to love our neighbors. This is an opportunity for moms to rally together with other moms during some very uneasy and anxiety-filled times. These class sessions allow for support systems to be made as our patients, from all different walks of life, come together to learn and plan for the arrival of their child.
These opportunities are truly astounding for our staff and volunteers. This is the pro-life stance at work. This is the “doing” of the Word and Gospel. Many of our patients are facing some very tumultuous times and we are fortunate enough to be there and stand with them to assist.
Many would argue that the pro-life movement is one of protesting. I have been told many times that I care not about the woman facing an unplanned pregnancy; I only care about her choice being stripped and abortion clinics being silenced. This could not be further from the truth. Those that make these claims have obviously never visited a place like HOPE. They have obviously never taken the time to sit and talk with a mom facing an unplanned pregnancy and the needs she may have.
I reject the “protesting” label. We at HOPE are unashamedly pro-life and we are seeking to impact our community by stepping in while others step out. We are there for the mom in need. We are there to pick up the pieces and offer assistance to a woman that was mistreated or taken advantage of by an abortion clinic. We are there to comfort and console moms as they face the reality of their situations.
HOPE is a medical clinic and so much more. We are blessed, with your prayers and support, to be able to offer services that truly go above and beyond. We do not simply want to offer the bare minimum. Our goal is to be ready and willing to serve any and every patient that comes to HOPE.
This current class session illustrates the great need facing our community. It is clear that many are facing unplanned pregnancies and are in need of some type of assistance. We believe this assistance is more than simply telling moms to choose life, and certainly more than, as the abortion clinics would argue, telling moms they cannot possibly achieve their dreams with this untimely baby.
We believe assistance requires us to meet our patients where they are. We do this in the exam room, the counseling room, and the classroom. This work isn’t about this movement or that movement. This work is about people loving and serving people. It just so happens that this work is intrinsically pro-life. Thanks for standing with us and making this work possible!
posted by Andrew Wood, Executive Director of Hope Resource Center
