Pregnancy Support Services

Grant
In A Nutshell
Program
Team
Results

Pregnancy Support Services Success Grant

Pregnancy Support Services In A Nutshell

What

Pregnancy Support Services is a Christian ministry providing alternatives to abortion by supporting women facing the challenges of unplanned pregnancy, promoting sexual integrity with clients and in the community, and offering post abortion recovery support.

Why

Ministries like Pregnancy Support Services have been instrumental in lowering the numbers of abortions across the nation with loving and supportive care of women in the midst of unplanned pregnancies. They have a unique opportunity to not only offer state of the art care, like ultrasounds, but to also present who Jesus desires to be in the lives of the women they are privileged to meet.

We agree with them that having a relationship with Christ, while not being an immediate panacea, is the catalyst for change in thinking and behavior. Their clients who are now following Jesus are making the best progress with healthier life style choices. For example, one of the past clients had two babies with two different men outside of marriage. After she accepted Christ and also became serious about growing in her walk with Him she found new community in a supportive local church. Today she is a member of that church and married. Her children have been adopted by her husband, and they are making good progress as a family within a strong body of believers. This kind of heart level change is the work we want to encourage alongside the pursuit of excellence to the Glory of God.

Pregnancy Support Services's Program

Pregnancy Tests

PSS offers free pregnancy tests. Often women are frightened about the prospect of a positive pregnancy test. At Pregnancy Support Services there are trained peer counselors who can help allay fears by meeting each woman with kindness, listening to her, and providing a compassionate environment. At PSS clients can also schedule an ultrasound within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. This is a wonderful way for women to begin to bond with their babies. 85% of women receiving ultrasound at PSS decide to carry their babies to term.

Parenting Education

Many of the women who seek services at Pregnancy Support Services are single moms lacking support apart from PSS. By providing parenting education, PSS hopes that they can make women’s transition into parenting as smooth as possible. The parenting program consists of two components:

Baby Basics, is for the first time mom. Women learn about infant care, nutrition, labor and delivery, budgeting their money, and best uses of their time.
WISE Women is for the more experienced mom. It focuses on parenting with purpose, helping women understand that they have an obligation to offer safety and security to their children by setting loving boundaries which are as often modeled as they are taught. Both of the parenting components are taught from a Christian perspective by well trained staff and volunteers. Many of the teaching volunteers are professionals in the community who have a strong desire to see PSS clients succeed.

Clothing Closet

By participating in parenting education at PSS women are earning vouchers which they may exchange for baby items from our Clothing Closet. These items include diapers, clothing, blankets, toiletries, wipes, crib sheets, bath towels and wash clothes, and occasionally cribs, strollers, and high chairs. All of the items in the Clothing Closet are donated by members of the community.

Abstinence Education

Pregnancy Support Services offers a well researched, fast paced, fun program for teens in middle and high school that meets all state and federal guidelines for teaching saving sex for marriage. Our presentation is approved for use in Durham Public Schools, Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools, and Orange County Schools. We give students pre and post presentation surveys to measure the effectiveness of the presentation. Almost without exception, teens are telling us that the information they hear in the presentation challenges their thinking about sex outside marriage to the point that many of them make the decision to wait until marriage to have sex. The surveys filled out by the faculty are 99% positive and teachers invite our team to return year after year. Teachers also become our best advertisers for the program within their schools.

STD Testing

PSS offers free tests for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV. All STD screening at PSS is done by health care professionals who have gone through the normal 24 hour classroom volunteer training in addition to STD training. STD testing supports the portion of the mission encouraging women to save sex for marriage by giving women the opportunity to evaluate where their lifestyle choices may lead them. The setting is calm, compassionate, and confidential as allowed by law.

Post Abortion Support

Over the years we have found that many women regret having had abortions and need to talk with someone about the choice they made. PSS offers Tender Mercies, a group Bible study for women desiring to heal from past abortions. In addition, women are always welcome to have one on one support if the group setting isn’t appropriate for some reason. As with all PSS services, Tender Mercies groups are confidential.

Pregnancy Support Services's Team

Mimi Every
Executive Director
Pregnancy Support Services’ Executive Director is Mimi Every. Mimi has served in this capacity since August, 1992. Prior to that she served on the PSS Board of Directors, co-chairing it for close to a year before transitioning to the Executive Director position. During her tenure the ministry has grown from one location to two, two paid staff to eight, has established a presence at UNC and NCCU, had its sexual integrity program approved in three local public school systems, and added a clinic for ultrasounds and STD testing.
She was a founding board member and served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a statewide network of pregnancy care centers, Christian maternity homes, and Christian adoption agencies. Mimi is a Regional Consultant for Care Net. In that capacity she trains boards of directors and staff in pregnancy care centers in NC, VA, and Washington, DC.