Celebrating its move to its new 7,000 square foot location, The Crisis Pregnancy Center in Terre Haute, Ind., hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony with U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon on hand in Tuesday's community gathering.
Claiming the title, "the largest CPC in the nation" based on square footage, the organization served 3,000 clients in 2014 with services including limited ultrasound, STD/STI testing, HIV testing, Pap smears and breast examinations. The new location is a five-minute walk away from the main campus of Indiana State University, and is located on the first floor of a building that houses four floors of college students.
"It's just unheard of," Sharon Carey, executive director, said. "We're making history right here in the Wabash Valley and Terre Haute with this center."
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
Having served its first clients as far back as 1988, The Crisis Pregnancy Center raised the $2 million it needed to consolidate and relocate its services to the new downtown location from exclusively local sources, including area "churches, businesses and other individuals in the community," according to a news story from a local NBC affiliate.
Local funding for pregnancy centers is the norm across the nation, which do not receive financial income from networking and support organizations like Heartbeat International, Care Net or National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), and rarely are in a position to receive funds from state or federal governments.
Tweet This: @RepLarryBucshon: "Pregnancy centers are critical in providing free advice and services." #prolife
"Just under $2 million and it is paid for. And it is paid for by local support," Carey pointed out. "That shows you how much a buy-in that the Wabash Valley has into this place."
For his part, Rep. Bucshon, a Republican who represents the state's 8th district at the federal level—and also a heart surgeon—called pregnancy centers "critical in providing free advice and services for pregnant women" and men, according to the report. Rep. Bucshon also pointed to Indiana's high infant mortality rate, which is 7.1 compared to a national average of 5.96, and expressed his hopes that The Crisis Pregnancy Center's new digs will further position the organization as a vital solution to the statewide issue.
"Hopefully, with this new location, there will be some expansion and we could get the infant mortality rate down in Indiana with better prenatal care," the Rep. Bucshon said.
