Alpha Alternative Pregnancy Care Center in Hopkinsville, Ky., will be moving into the old Belmont Elementary School building this fall, thanks to raising $111,729 at its annual fundraising dinner Monday night.
Executive director Amanda Westerfield said Alpha Alternative will occupy 6,000 square feet of the school building, now called Hilltop Properties and owned by Phillip Garnett.
The lease on the space begins June 1, but Westerfield said renovations may take a little longer.
With the additional space, Alpha will be able to expand its services and offer more resources to women with crisis pregnancies, the director said.
"We hope to do more group classes within a classroom setting, and now that we have our nurses on staff, we'd like to do nutritional classes with our clients," Westerfield said. "We also hope to be able to do our ultrasounds on-site at least one day a week to start out."
She also gave an update on the Image Clear Ultrasound Mobile unit, which travels around town and offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and client advocates to pregnant women in need.
The mobile unit now has two nurses and a sonographer, and earned its state license to serve as a medical clinic, Westerfield said.
Following the announcement and updates, a client of Alpha named Payton shared how going to Alpha Alternative changed her mind about having an abortion.
"What they do on the Image Clear Mobile is priceless, even though it doesn't cost a dime," the young woman said as Mobile operations manager Heather Hawkins brought up her son. "My 6-month-old healthy, happy son probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Alpha."
After a resounding applause, guest speaker Kirk Walden took the stage to encourage guests to donate to Alpha's fundraising goal of $125,000.
Walden, a pro-life author and motivational speaker, shared his ultimate goal of seeing abortion end in the next decade. He noted that abortion rates have dropped to the lowest its ever been since Roe v. Wade passed in the 70s.
"I believe abortion can be obsolete in the next 10 years," he said. "(Abortion clinics) used to have us surrounded, but now we're surrounding them with the love of Jesus Christ."
Walden went on to say when Alpha relocates to the Hilltop property, it will be one of the largest pregnancy care centers in the country.
"Do you know what you can do with 6,000 square feet?" he asked.
Walden said it would cost about $10,000 to $15,000 to renovate the space at the school, and asked the crowd to give generously to support the mission of Alpha.
Donors can give a one-time gift or make a monthly monetary pledge. To donate to Alpha, visit https://www.alphapcc.org.
As of Tuesday afternoon, donations and pledges were at nearly $112,000, and Westerfield said the organization was excited.
"That is just blowing our minds," she said. "It's a lot more than we've had in the last two years, and it showed us that everyone is supportive of our goal to expand into medical."
Zirconia Alleyne is features editor of the New Kentucky Era, where this originally appeared May 2. Republished with permission.
