An upstate New York family is responding to the negative economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic with an adaptive strategy to help the community by implementing free Pop-Up Pregnancy Centers.
During the upheaval caused by the virus in recent months, mandatory social distancing and stay-at-home orders have forced many community resources to shut down. Among these have been the Salvation Army, food pantries and some pro-life pregnancy centers. As Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have kept their doors open, Julie Rosati was determined to find a creative way to support the mothers in her community who chose life.
“Now more than ever before, the need for emotional human connection and support is paramount to people’s survival,” Rosati said, and the approach of making mental, emotional, financial and physical needs equally essential informs both her other pro-life work and that of her family’s Pop-Up Pregnancy Centers outreach.
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The mobile “pop-up” approach is unique in that the pregnancy center is not a physical building, but a group of individuals reaching people in their own homes. This mobility element allows them to continue outreach amidst the pandemic. Were they housed in a physical building, Rosati said, they could have been forced to shut down as well due to restrictions implemented after the COVID19 outbreak.
Individuals in need are connected with a mentor through the uncommon pregnancy help approach, and communicate their needs. Rosati then plans deliveries for the needed supplies within 24-48 hours after speaking with the mentor.
Rosati picks one community area to serve per day with the pop-up centers, doing deliveries every day of the week, with approximately 15-20 deliveries in a day.
Other community organizations had stopped taking donations due to COVID19, and after word spread about Rosati’s Pop-Up Pregnancy Center via Facebook, people began dropping off their donations on her doorstep day and night.
Her entire family works together, sanitizing everything by hand and delivering the items to the doors of those in need at no cost. This allows individuals who have lost their jobs or means of public transportation to receive aid while eliminating the need for close contact in receiving the assistance.
Since the founding of the Pop-Up Pregnancy Centers during the pandemic, the Rosati family has helped 200 mothers and counting.
Rosati has a history of pro-life advocacy. She is a recipient of the Students For Life of America’s Everyday Hero Award for her life-saving work on the sidewalks of New York City. She has also made TV appearances on Brad Mattes’s Facing Life TV program, the 700 Club and the Christian Broadcasting Network, while having worked with Expectant Mother Care (EMC Frontline). She also continues pro-life advocacy as the director of the Pro-life Training Center, which was founded under Save The Storks.
As director Rosati describes her goal: “Now, after 16 years and counting of front-line involvement, it is time for me to really pour into the next generation of pro-lifers as together we work to make abortion unthinkable.”
Working under the umbrella of Save The Storks, she uses her practical experience in the pro-life field to train the next generation to continue the work.
“I am teaching them to face adversity and challenges stemming from the injustice of abortion with prayer, ingenuity, fearlessness and passion at the Pro-Life Training Center,” Rosati said.
Likewise, she teaches the students the importance of long-term connection with those they help by using a support team of 10 individuals who keep in regular contact with the mothers they help. The team continues to inquire about not just physical and financial needs, but emotional and mental needs as well.
The Pop-Up Pregnancy Centers are another example of pregnancy help servants doing what it takes to serve women in need. Among the many centers that have remained open, volunteers and staff have also been flexible and innovative in discovering and implementing ways to remain in service to clients, while Heartbeat International has continued to provide resources and support during this unprecedented time.
The Rosatis’ work with Pop-Up Pregnancy Centers continues with no plan to close the centers even when stores and businesses revert back to normal hours of operation.
There are long-term plans for the centers, as Julie Rosati plans to establish what she calls “Hope Centers;” physical extensions of the Pop-Up Pregnancy work planted in local churches. Rosati hopes this will further aid in fostering a strong sense of community and support for the single mothers and their children.
Rosati set no limits for herself, as she explains, “The opportunities I have for life-saving and changing work are endless.”
For more information, follow the Pop-Up Pregnancy Facebook page HERE.
