One of the greatest misconceptions about Grace House Ministries and organizations like it is that only teen moms seek help there. Many more times than one may expect, our staff consults with married couples, single parents and those not even close to being a teen.
One such incident I had with a young woman I will call *Elizabeth. She was married but her husband wanted a divorce. She had one young child for whom she was fiercely working to provide on her own and in addition, she was caring for her dying grandmother. This strong-willed, hard-working young woman found a new pregnancy to be just too much.
As I sat across from her in our clinic consultation room, I asked her what kind of support she would need to not consider aborting her second child. For Elizabeth, the answer was childcare. She could not afford childcare because she didn’t have a job, and she couldn’t find a job because she didn’t have childcare.
I asked if she was aware of a state program that exists to help with childcare, but she and I both knew that the waiting list for that program is months long. She needed help immediately.
I asked Elizabeth if help with three months of childcare would make a difference for her. She said yes, and I invited her to come back the next week and see what we could arrange. I made phone call after phone call to churches and friends, gathering up enough help to get this young mother assistance, but she did not return for her follow-up appointment. I was left to assume the worst, because she had called initially seeking an abortion.
If I had the money to offer during that appointment to cover those three months of childcare, the conversation might have gone much differently. The reality is that money issues like these are often the reason many women feel that abortion is their only option. The $300-$1,000 cost of an abortion is less than a lifetime of responsibility with no support.
What a powerful privilege we have to ask a frightened parent, “What would make abortion unnecessary in your mind?” and then be able to come together as a community and make her answer a reality.
Grace House Ministries is pro-people. We are not in the business of just making sure babies are born, but of building long-term relationships and supporting clients through their journey to becoming great parents.
Can you help eliminate the debt of our new medical clinic, freeing our funds to help women like Elizabeth? The cost of our new clinic, located behind Weatherford Regional Medical Center, totaled $885,543 and only $256,000 of debt was incurred by the ministry.
What price could we ever put on life? If God has gifted you with the ability to give generously, we hope you will. Click here to partner with us. Please note the most effective gift is by checking or savings bank draft. Checks can also be sent to our administrative office at PO Box 1416 Weatherford, TX 76086.
Executive Director Dana Blankenship
*Name changed to protect the privacy of our clients