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Hope Connections celebrates one year of helping local women

Over a year ago, a group of Williamson County citizens came together with a dream - providing a haven for women going through unplanned pregnancies. The non-profit facility they created, Hope Connections Pregnancy Resource Center, had its one-year anniversary on Aug. 27, 2008.

The center has made huge strides during its first year, finding and furnishing a facility in Leander, and providing a wide array of services for local women, all with the help of donations from the community and numerous volunteers.

The center has 20 volunteers. Services include free pregnancy tests, ultrasound, parenting classes, life skills classes, referrals to other sources of help, and Bible studies. Upcoming programs at the center include birth preparation classes, back care advice from a local chiropractor, as well as nutrition and life skills classes.

Just over 100 women have come through the center since it opened. Over 40 of those have given birth.

The center aims to help women make more responsible choices. “It's about life change, not just a temporary fix,” said Executive Director DeeAnn McDonald.

The facility, which has a pro-life stance, draws much of its support from area churches.

“We are 100 percent supported through donations,” said McDonald. “We have a $160,000 annual operating budget, but we get no grants. We're non-profit. Everything we do is free.”

The center also offers counseling for women - and men - impacted by abortion. “We come across women who have had abortions and have a lot of regrets,” said McDonald. “We're also seeing men who wanted the baby but their partner chose to abort, or who didn't want the child and now they feel guilty.”

Edna Staudt, Justice of the Peace Pct. 2, one of the original founders of Hope Connections, has seen amazing progress at the center. “We had the idea in February and opened Aug. 1. We had no facility, no employees, nothing. By November, we had a director and volunteers, acquired a facility and refurbished it,” she said.

The facility started out as one big room. Through volunteers and donations, the group put up insulation, installed office equipment and a $25,000 sonogram machine, and implemented programs to help meet the community's needs. “All that has happened in a year's time,” she said.

Upcoming programs (open to the public, all held at HCPRC) include:

€ Sept. 11, 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Forgiven and Set Free - a 10-week post abortion healing Bible Study for men and women.

€ Sept. 30, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: How to present abstinence to our youth as a real, viable and best alternative. Presented by Tom Leightenheimer, Youth Pastor of Central Baptist Church.

€ Oct. 14, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Amy Culp, RD, LD, sCULPture Nutrition and Fitness, LLC, will be leading a nutrition class.

To learn more about Hope Pregnancy Resource Center and how you can help, visit http://www.hcprc.org, call (512) 260-8855, or visit the center at at 2701 South U.S. 183, Suite C.

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