Crisis pregnancy center run entirely by volunteers

Intermountain Catholic

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The volunteers at Birthright of Ogden receive thanks at an appreciation luncheon April 25 at Mount Benedict Monastery. They do everything they can to make the girls and women who come into their center feel comfortable. IC photo by Christine Young

OGDEN — Birthright of Ogden held a luncheon to thank their volunteers for all they do. The luncheon was held at Mount Benedict Monastery April 25, where their board meetings are also held on a monthly basis.

Birthright is a crisis pregnancy center run completely by volunteers who help girls as young as 14 and women in their 50s face unplanned pregnancies.

"Once these women visit Birthright they realize what they are facing is not going to be so difficult," said Joanne Linford, Birthright board of directors president.

Birthright was started in Ogden in 1979 by Benedictine Sisters Virgene Marx and the late Francis Forster. Birthright began in Toronto, Canada in 1968 by Louise Summerhill, who was a Catholic woman who had volunteered at a crisis hot-line center and became alarmed at the increase in abortions being performed.

"The volunteers in the Ogden Birthright on average donate approximately 2,600 hours a year," said Linford. "It is amazing they are able to give that much time given we all have busy lives."

The volunteers do things such as bring items collected from Hill Air Force Base, conduct fund raisers, write grants, do office work, crochet baby hats and blankets, sew baby blankets, give pregnancy tests, put together layettes, and much more.

"We have been active for 29 years, said Autumn Barowski, who writes grants, and is a member of St. Mary Parish, Ogden. "I think that is a testament to the support we get from our volunteers. I do not think there are many organizations who are completely run by volunteers."

Barowski said Birthright is a crisis pregnancy center where young girls and women can turn for pre-pregnancy testing.

"If a girl is pregnant, we obviously never encourage or do anything to promote abortion. We promote adoption, if the mother feels up to that," said Barowski. "If the mother wants to keep her baby, we help her to find the various social services she might need. If she needs medical care, we refer these girls and women to a doctor or the Baby Your Baby program. We see many women who are undocumented immigrants who cannot go to Baby Your Baby, so we refer them to Midtown Clinic, which is one of the beneficiaries of the St. Benedict Foundation supported by the Sisters of St. Benedict.

"We also give referrals to the WIC Program (Women, Infants, and Children), which serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5, who are at nutritional risk, by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets."

Barowski said they also give referrals for jobs, housing, where to receive food, and all the different social service agencies.

"But a lot of the people who come into the center do not know how to get through the system," said Barowski. "A lot of them are scared when they come into our center. Whether they are documented or not, a lot of them are outside the system. They just do not know what is available to them. So we help them find what they need to keep them and their babies safe and healthy. If they choose to come back to our center, they can get a layette from us two weeks before their baby is due or just after their baby is born."

Barowski said the layettes have three baby outfits including onesies, slick-and-plays, blankets, baby wash, diapers, a hat, baby lotion, burp cloths, and more, just so each baby has something of its own when it starts out.

"So many of these babies have nothing when they start out, they come from poor families," said Barowski. "This is a testament to how our work is successful in that we do not see that many premature babies being born.

"At Birthright, we make it so they are not afraid to come back and they are not afraid to go to the doctor," said Barowski. "We help them understand the importance of getting pre-natal care, which helps the mothers and their babies.

"Everything we have is donated," said Barowski. "Occasionally we have to buy the things we need such as new-born diapers, which we desperately need all the time. We have costs associated with testing and test supplies such as cups and gloves. We give the care these women and girls need for themselves and their babies."

Birthright is located at 3564 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 3A, Ogden. They are open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The phone number is (801) 392-1576.