{"id":90203,"date":"2016-03-14T11:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T15:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=90203"},"modified":"2016-03-14T16:19:52","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T20:19:52","slug":"former-teen-mom-finds-ways-reach-abortion-vulnerable-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-teen-mom-finds-ways-reach-abortion-vulnerable-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Former teen mom finds ways to reach abortion vulnerable women"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

When Valerie Millsapps discovered she was pregnant at age 18, she said she felt alone and scared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy wanted me to have an abortion. I was adopted, and I knew that my mom chose life for me, so I knew it wasn\u2019t an option,\u201d Millsapps said. \u201cWhen I got to see her face, it was all worth it. But it was hard. If there had been pregnancy center, it could have helped me through the struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be in this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Millsapps, the executive director of Pregnancy Resource Center of Blount County, Tenn<\/strong><\/a>., draws on her own experiences and a personal connection to the families they serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a teen mom, myself, I have a heart for them, too. If we can change one person\u2019s mind and show them hope; we\u2019ve done our job. I didn\u2019t have that hope when I found out I was pregnant,\u201d Millsapps said.<\/p>\n

Millsapps\u2019 oldest daughter is now 16 and has a passion for missions. Her husband adopted her before they got married, and they have another daughter who is 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman can become a strong mom; a strong family. No matter what obstacle, it\u2019s just a bump in the road and together, we can overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The staff at the Pregnancy Resource Center basically \u201ctakes you in,\u201d Millsapps said, even though the families they serve don\u2019t actually stay there. The center performs free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, adoption referrals, counseling, hosts life skill classes and helps the families obtain the items they need to raise their children. The center also has an abortion recovery program.<\/p>\n

The Pregnancy Resource Center is celebrating its 30th anniversary of serving the community, with plans to expand its services through a Save the Stork mobile ultrasound unit.<\/p>\n

They serve a large, rural community, Millsapps said, and this bus will allows them to provide services to those without a way to get to their center.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our clients either have to get a ride, or don\u2019t have a way to drive here,\u201d she said. \u201cThis will be a way bring ultrasounds, pregnancy testing to them as well we educate them about where the center is and talk about the other programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal would be to routinely drive the bus to specific areas to increases presence and awareness in the communities. So far, they\u2019ve raised $16,000 of the $110,000 needed.<\/p>\n

Millsapps has served as executive director for the last two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m blessed just to be able to serve the community with life-affirming programs,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m blessed to serve God\u2019s call.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she first started at the center, Millsapps said they didn\u2019t see many abortion-minded clients, maybe one a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thinking was \u2018maybe it\u2019s not bad in our area,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cSo I went out with a group that sidewalks counsels at the two [abortion] clinics within 20 minutes of our center.<\/p>\n

One clinic near the heart of the university area reports performing 35 abortions a week on average, and there were 25 cars that pulled in that morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tell them we\u2019re protestors and not to take information from us,\u201d she said. \u201cI really got to see the obstacles in sharing the truth with these women about other options. When I got to experience that, I got frustrated about what am I doing wrong? Why aren\u2019t they coming to us? God really convicted me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she started doing prayer walks around the center, asking God to send these women there.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter the choice they choose, we\u2019re still here\u2014even if they go through with the abortion,\u201d she said. \u201cThey may not need us now, but they may in the future for support.\u201d<\/p>\n

They changed their outreach approach, Millsapps said, from advertising in the phonebook to more online outreach to those looking for abortion or pregnancy help.<\/p>\n

Now, Millsapps said they see about five to 10 abortion-minded women a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, that\u2019s still small compared to how many women the clinics are seeing each day,\u201d Millsapps said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been here 30 years, we just want to go out in the community to educate and let others know we exist. I think it\u2019s just an ongoing struggle to let people know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since she started at the center, they\u2019ve also added men\u2019s community outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud of the men who step up in an important role,\u201d Millsapps said. \u201cSome have never had people speak encouragement to them or tell them, \u2018We\u2019re proud of you.\u2019 We\u2019re excited to build them up and be there every step as they learn to be fathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the Pregnancy Resource Center\u2019s four part-time staff and about 25 volunteers served 510 clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of the bigger picture,\u201d Millsapps said. \u201cThe ripple effect of the family we touched, that\u2019s thousands of people and it trickles down to generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another goal for their 30th year is the hope to retire their mortgage, Millsapps said. Since she started, they\u2019ve dropped the mortgage from about $90,000 to $50,000, with the hope that once its payed off, they have $13,000 more a year to be able to put back into outreach.<\/p>\n

The center primarily runs on donations from individuals, businesses and churches in the community. It is not state or federally funded, but it does receive some grant money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supported well in the community, but there\u2019s still a lot of people who don\u2019t know what we do or that we\u2019re even here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was first published<\/a> at Pregnancy Help News <\/a>on March 9, 2016, and is reprinted here with permission. You can subscribe to Pregnancy Help News here<\/a>. You can also read more about Save the Storks’ story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Valerie Millsapps discovered she was pregnant at age 18, she said she felt alone and scared. \u201cThe guy wanted me to have an abortion. I was adopted, and I knew that my mom chose life for me, so I knew it wasn\u2019t an option,\u201d Millsapps said. \u201cWhen I got to see her face, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":90212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[3619,7887,7886,690,7888],"yoast_head":"\nFormer teen mom finds ways to reach abortion vulnerable women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The center offers free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, adoption referrals, counseling, life skill classes & helps the families get items they need to raise their children.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/former-teen-mom-finds-ways-reach-abortion-vulnerable-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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