Women's center in Jackson, Alabama, weaves spiritual, medical care

JACKSON, Alabama — Along Highway 43 sits a white building that offers life-changing beginnings. The sign outside reads “Alpha Women’s Resource Center”. The front porch and flowerbeds reflect the warm and welcoming spirit of those who work and volunteer in the center.

The original vision of AWRC was cultivated by the wife of a family practitioner in the area 31 years ago. She wanted to provide hope and rectify the lack of emotional, mental, and spiritual support for women seeking medical care.

Presently, the center is open three days a week and provides around 600 units of service each year through pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STI testing, counseling, educational programs and other health and wellness care.

The mission of AWRC is to provide spiritual support to the women while serving their physical needs, according to Executive Director Diane Pruitt.

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While Pruitt has served in her position for 17 years, she began with the center as a volunteer and was later invited to be a board member, which ultimately led to her current role.

Pruitt herself experienced an unplanned pregnancy as a 19 year old. She said, “God has really done a work in my life. He’s put me in a situation where I can offer hope that I desperately needed when I was 19.”

Pruitt said she hopes that others can learn from her life journey and “find out what it is that you can do to help your community.”

Through her work at AWRS, she experienced the transition of the center into a medical pregnancy center in 2013. This transition allowed expecting moms to receive ultrasounds and prenatal care close to home. The medical care provided by AWRC is carried out by the nurse on staff, Crystal Shauger.

The staff at AWRC shared that the nearest medical pregnancy center is 65 minutes away. The distance can cause expecting mothers in the area to wait until half-way through their pregnancy before seeing a doctor. AWRC closes this gap and eases insecurities that women may have when going to see medical professionals.

Pruitt shared, “Alabama has a very high incident of prenatal and neonatal deaths. A lot of babies don't make it to the age of 2, especially if they come from a rural, poverty-stricken area.”

She explained how the mortality rate can be associated with a lack of prenatal care.

AWRC is able to bridge this gap for their clients.

When first walking into the center, Emily Thomas, the center’s administrative assistant, is the first person you meet. Thomas began with the center as a volunteer when she was in high school.

She shared, “I volunteered there for two years. Four years later, I became a client with my first pregnancy, which resulted in a miscarriage. They came alongside me by helping me navigate during that difficult time of grieving and offered me counseling pertaining to miscarriages.”

Two years later, she became an employee at the center. Pruitt said, “She’s the glue that holds us together.”

Thomas said she feels that her experiences with AWRC as a volunteer, client, and employee at the center molded her into the woman she is today. She said, “They are eager to share the love of God with everyone who walks through the door.”

While providing physical care, the AWRC differs from most women's health centers by providing help emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well. Numerous volunteers serve in the counseling rooms, guiding clients through Bright Course lessons. These lessons are online and cover topics related to pregnancy, birth, parenting, partnership, life lessons, fatherhood lessons, and Bible studies.

Once moms or dads complete these lessons, they get “Mommy/Daddy Bucks” to go toward the center's Baby Store. The items in the Baby Store are donated by churches and the community. So, rather than buying the things their baby needs out of pocket, they can earn it.

Clients are also served through one-on-one counseling. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the center has had more clients come into the center with a sense of panic in not knowing their options. The center serves as a place where young women facing unplanned pregnancy can get specific information and support by meeting with a counselor.

Teresa Howard, the Center’s volunteer director, just recently completed her master’s degree in pastoral counseling. She meets with individuals and provides marriage, family, post-abortion recovery, and trauma counseling just to name a few.

Along with Howard, the center’s volunteer life coach, Amanda Schell, has been volunteering at the center in several different capacities for over 20 years. She provides 45- minute sessions with clients to meet their greatest needs including, but not limited to, career prep, goal setting, stress management, time management, and budgeting, along with sexual, mental, emotional, and physical health.

Schell said, “I felt a very powerful presence the first time I visited and met with Diane, the director. We value each client with God-given dignity and respect.”

Pruitt shared that the services provided would not be possible without their team of volunteers. If community members want to help, they can become volunteers, financial partners, or donate gifts that moms or babies might need. For more information, visit the Alpha Women’s Resource Center website.

Jessica Criswell, a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, is living and learning this summer in her hometown of Chatom, Alabama, as a Jean O'Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life.  The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Women's center in Jackson, Alabama, weaves spiritual, medical care