Living Hope Centers, with three locations, provides hope to women in several eastern Arizona communities, including the Fort Apache Native American reservation.
From pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to group classes on abuse and finances, and a maternity home, Living Hope Centers provide services and safety, which in turn, provide hope.
“We’re trying to build healthy families,” said Emily Kortan, marketing director for the organization.
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Living Hope has centers in Show Low, Springerville, and Whiteriver, which is located on the reservation. The organization also maintains a call center in Phoenix, located about 180 miles from Show Low and the city to where most women in Show Low, population less than 11,000, and the surrounding area go for an abortion, Kortan said.
Expanding space
Recently, the Show Low center changed locations, getting into a larger building. The new location is next door to the organization’s medical director’s practice, Kortan said.
“We have twice the number of rooms to use with clients,” she said. “One is just for walk-ins. We also have more office space.”
Living Hope Centers offers pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and options education, providing women the encouragement and information they need to choose life for their unborn. The organization also offers hope through various classes and programs, including parenting classes, a fatherhood program and group classes to help those who’ve suffered domestic violence, sexual assault, or previous abortions, as well as those who need help managing money.
Healing and support are priorities for the staff and volunteers of Living Hope Centers.
“There is such a need,” Kortan said. “So many, including those living on the reservation, suffer with addictions and abuse, including sexual abuse. That often results in unplanned pregnancies. That’s where we’re here, to help them heal from their brokenness.”
Hope House
Another component of Living Hope Centers is the Hope House Maternity Home. This safe house for pregnant women offers hope through not only the housing given, but also the end result of independence and self-confidence.
“We’re providing her a safe place to stay as well as employment at our thrift store,” Kortan said. “She builds a nest egg, gaining her independence. She receives counseling and healing, and when she graduates (from the program), she’ll have a car and a furnished apartment, a new and better start at life.”
Volunteers help set the woman and her child up for success with furniture for the apartment that is donated. Additionally, the woman receives spiritual guidance by attending church and she learns basic life skills, such as budgeting, cleaning and healthy parenting.
Four women at a time can stay at the home, Kortan added, and pre-COVID the home was full, with three to four applications a week coming in.
“It’s a great need,” she said.
The beginning of Hope
Living Hope Centers began in 1997 under the umbrella of Mountain Missions Clinic. Two years later, the organization developed its own 501(c)(3), and in April 2000, Hope House launched in the basement of the center. After another two years, Hope House moved into a small home in Show Low, and that house was later remodeled to add more rooms. In 2005, the Whiteriver center opened, becoming the first (and still the only) pregnancy resource center on a Native American reservation, according to the organization’s website. In 2006, ultrasound was added to all the organization’s center locations, and in 2007, the organization became Living Hope. That same year, Hopeful Treasures Resale Boutique opened, providing additional revenue for the ministry and employment for woman living at Hope House Maternity Home.
Expanding the outreach of Hope
Living Hope Centers continues to grow. In addition to the new, larger location in Show Low, the organization plans to open another pregnancy resource center on the reservation in a community called McNary. The Fort Apache Reservation is home to the White Mountain Apache tribe.
“We’re partnering with a church, working together, to help another community on the reservation,” Kortan said.
Emily Kortan
Currently, there’s no scheduled opening date due to COVID-19. However, Kortan said they are hoping that will take place this spring.
Serving people in communities afflicted by poverty, abuse and discouragement, Living Hope Centers offers that one thing everyone needs: hope. Whether through medical services, pregnancy options education, classes, a safe house, employment, or faith-building, this Arizona pregnancy resource organization shares the love and hope of Christ.
“Our theme this year is #fearless,” Kortan said. “We have had a lot of growth and changes in the past year, and even though this coming year is full of unknowns, we are looking forward to 2021 with a fearless faith in God as He continues to grow our organization to reach more women and men with truth, love and hope.”
