Executive Director Ann Gainey told a crowd gathered for the ribbon cutting at the new facility that the plan to open a new crisis pregnancy center was placed on the back burner when the economy nosedived, but earlier this year a building...and a large donation...made a second site a reality.
The building at 4591 Winder Highway, which once housed medical offices, was transformed over the last several months into a new crisis pregnancy center that will offer the same services that the original Care Center in Gainesville offers.
The only exception, which should be temporary, is the ability to offer clients ultrasound technology. So far, the fundraising drive for that piece of equipment has garnered $17,000; Gainey says they need another $23,000.
She said the ultrasound equipment is vital in their mission to preventing abortion.
"It really is an 'Aha!' moment [for parents]. I can tell you story after story of clients who were really vascillating, they were on the fence between life and not life...and then when they've seen the ultrasound they go 'Wow! That's a baby.'...It's just powerful," said Gainey.
She said that the newest site also will offer post-abortion counseling, since many women do opt to terminate pregnancies and later regret their decisions.
"None of us can change our past, but we can be healed from our past and go on to live a more emotionally healthy life," she said.
In addition, the south Hall facility will offer STD testing, a service that Care Center RN Lynn Kearns said attracts about 50% male clientele.
"We have everything from teenage boys to married men," Kearns said.
Gainey said they don't want the new facility to be a secret, and in fact they will do lots of advertising so that the south Hall population knows that they are there.
"We've got Gainesville State College, we've got Lanier Tech, we've got three very large high schools, Johnson, West Hall and Flowery Branch, in this vicinity," said Gainey. "They all tend to gravitate toward the Mall of Georgia, Atlanta...so we think we're missing a lot of them. So, we're hoping by having this south Hall location, all of them will be more apt to come to us."
And, Gainey said there is plenty of evidence that Hall County needs additional crisis pregnancy services. She pointed out that medical records indicate at least 350 Hall County women are having abortions each year, many of them outside the county.
"We are committed...to let people know we are here."
New South Hall facility at 4591 Winder Highway
Guest visit the baby products room at Gainesville Care Center in Flowery Brach
Executive Director Ann Gainey speaks at the grand opening of the South Hall facility
Lynn Kearns, RN tells a guest about the fundraising drive for an ultrasound machine for the new facility
http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/9/252708