After a fire swept through the building housing the main office for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee this past Thanksgiving weekend the building was a total loss, and the ministry’s programs, including the Pregnancy Help Center of Knoxville, had to make temporary arrangements to continue providing services.
For the pregnancy help center, serving women experiencing unplanned pregnancies and their families has remained its top priority, even without a brick and mortar location, and the center hasn’t missed beat, before and after the fire.
Earlier in November 2021, the Pregnancy Help Center had reached a milestone: serving 2,000 families in its Earn While You Learn program.
“These are unique families we have served, not repeats,” said Ernestine Meiners, program leader at Pregnancy Help Center.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
Running numbers last summer, Meiners said she realized in July the totals were approaching 1,900. She believed the organization “would hit” 2,000 by year-end.
and Alicxon, age 4 with their gift basket
“Week by week, we were counting down,” she said. “Thirty people joined in one month.”
Number 2,000, Bessy, received a large gift basket.
“Each quarter we’re going to interview them and see how they’re doing, get their story,” Meiners said.
By year-end, even with the devastating fire, ironically 2,021 families had been served.
“We’re growing,” Meiners said. “The program boomed and blossomed, and that’s just the Knoxville center.”
“I know the other centers are growing too,” she said. “It’s so exciting to see that people come to us and trust us. We’re making a difference in their lives.”
Catholic Charities of Eastern Tennessee (CCETN) is a ministry of the Diocese of Knoxville and operates four additional pregnancy centers in the state, including Chattanooga and small towns near the Kentucky and Georgia state lines.
The Earn While You Learn program began at the Knoxville center in 2014.
“It just boomed our client base,” Meiners said. “It’s been fun, and it keeps growing.”
Even during the height of the COVID pandemic, women and families were served, she said – the program went virtual. After the fire, virtual classes were again implemented.
“Because of the Bright Course virtual program, our program continues to go on and flourish as we try to rebuild,” Meiners said.
A week into 2022, she learned they had secured a building lease for a temporary location, with hopes of moving in the following week.
Hispanic outreach
As the Earn While You Learn program grew during the past several years, Meiners and her staff recognized an increasing need: serving Spanish-speaking women.
Knoxville is one of the areas of Tennessee that has a Hispanic community. Developing a Spanish version of Earn While You Learn became a priority, and in 2017, the Knoxville center launched its Hispanic program. Having the Bright Course videos in the Earn While You Learn program available in Spanish fosters the center’s service to the Hispanic community.
Ivett Lambert, Hispanic Client Specialist, family - Bessy and her children William and Alicxon, Sandi Davidson, Pregnancy Services Program Leader, and Paul Ritter Director of Programs for CCETN.
“The diocese has a Hispanic ministry, so we reached out to them, and we got a couple of women who are bilingual,” Meiners said. “They actually became a part of our staff. Now we have a full-time bilingual staff member. It’s great because so many of those resources that I knew of in English, she’s now reaching out with, and we’re building a referral and reference book for our Hispanic community.”
Coincidentally, Bessy, the 2,000th person to be served by the Pregnancy Help Center, is a Hispanic mom. The Chattanooga center also has a bilingual program.
CCETN also operates an immigration program, and at times those staff members refer clients to the pregnancy centers, she said.
“It’s really about (being) where the Hispanic populations are,” Meiners said. “It’s certainly growing, and it’s exciting.”
Partnerships
In addition to working with the various segments within CCETN, the Knoxville pregnancy center enjoys a positive working relationship with the county health department. Before the fire, the pregnancy center was located across the street from the main public health building.
“We started connecting with the WIC program and the Safe Sleep Program and a health clinic that has sliding scale for medical services – we just have connected with them so many times,” Meiners said. “During COVID, they stopped doing pregnancy tests and told women, ‘Oh, just walk across the street and they’ll do it for you.’ We have a direct line between us. It’s just a great relationship that we have with public health.”
The health center also has people who speak Spanish; therefore, the connection and partnership help each organization.
“The Hispanic community supports each other and allows us to help support them, too,” said Meiners.
“Everybody is welcome,” she said. “Our goal is that they have a healthy baby coming home to a nurturing, loving home.”
“‘We’re going to try to remove stresses from your life;’ that’s what we tell them,” Meiners said, “and if we can’t do that here, we’re going to find resources to help her have a more stress-free life.”
Families are served for two years through the program, Meiners added.
Not alone
In addition to Earn While You Learn and working in tandem with the county public health department, Meiners and the staff and volunteers at the Pregnancy Help Center offer compassion and care to women who experience abortion. The center provides a Rachel’s Vineyard post-abortion program.
“We don’t discriminate,” Meiners said. “No matter what decision she chooses, we’re going to be here for her. I’ve had moms who have made that decision to have an abortion and they still call me, saying, ‘I regret it so much!’ I tell them, ‘Come in – let’s talk. We’ll get you help – you’re not in this alone.’”
The pregnancy center and CCETN aren’t alone either.
to clients from a van after the fire
“As soon as the community heard of the fire, the outpouring of love and support was unbelievable,” Meiners said. “From December 7 (a week after the fire), we have been loading the CCETN van with diapers and wipes and parking in our old parking lot (to distribute items). We are seeing 15-20 clients a week for diapers and to check in with us.”
“We are also shipping diapers and wipes to the parents’ home if we did not have their size in our storage unit,” Meiners added.
Also, a local Catholic church provided a conference room and internet service so staff and volunteers could meet with clients for program enrollment or classes, as some wanted the in-person experience, she said.
More joys are transpiring in spite of the fire, Meiners said.
“We have had several new births and met moms at the hospital to deliver their car seats as they could not come to the shop for them,” she said. “I think the sweetest part is the moms who want to bring us the clothing their children have outgrown to help restock our shelves – all laundered and folded.”
More information about CCETN and the organization’s programs, including the pregnancy centers, and information on how to donate to the rebuilding fund is available HERE.
