35 Years of Loving Women to Life




As a pregnancy crisis center, we help girls or women who are concerned about a pregnancy. We help them carry their babies to term. As our Founder, Louise Summerhill said: “We love them to Life.”
We are an all volunteer organization. We are a 501c3 non-profit. We rely solely on donations. We do not receive money from the government.
The volunteers have helped over 9000 girls and women from their teen years up thru their mid 40’s. Anytime someone is concerned about a pregnancy, she can come to us for help. We walk with these girls and women as they start this new chapter in their lives. Some of them are happy, but many are not. Many have been told to get an abortion before they find us. We help them find solutions to have their babies.
I have been a volunteer since 1996. There are times I never know the end of the story. Here are a few of the stories I know.
I knew a young couple still in high school and they came to us for a free pregnancy test. It was positive. What will they do? We talked for quite a while about how to talk to their parents, how important it is to finish high school, what to look for in their jobs; things like that. They stayed and thought about their plans. A month or two later, I received a picture of them with a note just letting me know they were ok. And then, I did not hear from them. 2 1/2 years later a young woman came into the office with her child. She and her husband wanted me to know how Birthright helped them. They finished school, were married and he found a job with training and advancement opportunities. But most of all, they wanted me to meet their daughter. It was my young couple.
Another time, on Christmas Eve, a woman and her sister came into the office. They just stopped by because they were thinking of a time 18 years ago when the older sister came to us for help. Her test was positive. She did not want to carry the baby to term. She was getting ready for college. Her whole life was planned. It did not include a new baby. We talked and she discovered that she could adjust her plans. Her world did not come to an end. The path she was on did change, but she said it was for the better. She stopped to tell me this because her son started college and was the joy of her life. It scares her now to think of what could have happened, had she not stopped at Birthright that day, so many years ago.
I have had parents bring in their daughters to get a test. They share with me that they remember me from many years ago when they needed a test. Now their daughter needs a test and they are thrilled to know we are still here.
There was a woman who left to get an abortion after her test came up positive. She could not have another child. She had 4 older kids at home. She would not allow us to help her. My volunteer was distraught. What could she do? I said, now tell God all about her and let Him touch her heart. And He did. Two weeks later she came back. She changed her mind. She needed information on doctors and insurance. And, 7 months later she called us again. She needed baby clothes for her baby boy. She let me hold him.
One Halloween while I was passing out candy a little ballerina danced onto my porch and said “trick or treat”. I placed candy in her pumpkin and looked up to see the smiling face of her mom. “Do you remember me, she asked?” My mind raced back to when I first met her at the center. She had just graduated from high school. She was shocked to find out her test was positive. She was tearful and angry. I listened to her for the next few weeks as her baby’s life hung in the balance. And then she stopped calling. “Of course I remember you!” She told me it wasn’t easy but it was the right thing to do. She is married now and cannot imagine her life without her precious little girl. She wanted me to meet her daughter.
Even though the circumstances aren’t perfect, if we stop and look at the BIG picture, we realize that we are strong enough to handle any situation and choose Life.
My volunteers and I have been blessed to be a part of this center and the lives of these girls and women.
To us, LOVE means to care and serve and be responsible for other people, so that, as soon as we see another in distress, we immediately respond.