This community is serving moms and babies, one car at a time
Did you know there are nearly 190,000 vehicle breakdowns a day in the United States, which result in 30 million lost work days a year?
If you’re a single mom trying to take care of the kids and make it to work, this can be especially devastating.
Over the past weekend in Summersville, West Virginia, Her PLAN (a project of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Education Fund) was invited to attend a Community Car Maintenance Day that brought together local businesses, churches, aid providers, and community leaders to show their support for moms and families.
Free oil changes, filter replacement and tire fill-ups were among the basic car maintenance services graciously provided by local mechanics, who were eager to use their skills to help families stay safely on the road. The event also featured a barber and hair stylist offering haircuts, crafts and games for children, breakfast and a BBQ lunch for attendees.
Reliable transportation is a vital need across the country, but especially in the Mountain State. With a population of roughly 3,400, Summersville is the seat of Nicholas County, toward the southeastern part of the state. A place of great natural beauty, just over 20 miles from the famous New River Gorge bridge, it is also an area where almost 18% of people are estimated to live in poverty.
The event came about because a community member recognized the need and wanted to do something. Word spread throughout Summersville, and donations – from supplies, food, volunteers giving their time, and more – poured in.
All told, 26 family members were served. Several attendees were able to connect with long-term resources to continue walking with them as they raise their children. More than a drive-thru, there was also time for volunteers to talk with moms, play with the kids, and help them all feel the love and support of their community.
Her PLAN: Collaborating for comprehensive care
Several years before the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser and other leaders at SBA – already anticipating what a future pro-life America ought to look like – set out to take an inventory of the support system for women and families in the event Roe v. Wade were overturned.
The brainchild of that inquiry was Her Pregnancy & Life Assistance Network (Her PLAN). Founded in 2020, Her PLAN builds on the care and resources the pro-life movement has offered for 50 years by connecting and strengthening a national network of rigorously vetted, life-affirming care providers that offer hope and help to women who might otherwise abort.
West Virginia is one of the 29 states in which Her PLAN is active. The group’s ever-growing directory is swiftly approaching 5,000 providers nationwide.
Her PLAN recognizes that, out of every “crisis” pregnancy, the pregnancy itself is rarely the root cause of the crisis. In other words, it’s not the child but the surrounding circumstances that can make women feel that abortion is the only choice they have.
In a national study, 60% of women who had an abortion would have preferred to give birth if they had either more emotional support or more financial security. At a time when the first and often only solution our culture seems to proffer is abortion, Her PLAN exists to support the providers that ensure every woman has support and options for thriving with her child.
With extensive research, the Her PLAN team developed its seven categories of care:
Care coordination and mentorship – options for counseling and pregnancy support.
Health and well-being – including ob-gyns and primary physicians.
Financial assistance, work or education
Material or legal support – including transportation, food, housing, and legal help
Recovery and mental health – addressing challenges such as addiction, intimate partner violence and healing from previous abortion(s).
Prenatal diagnosis – disability support organizations, perinatal hospice resources, pregnancy/infant loss support and more.
Care for children – including child care, children’s health care and parenting coaching, as well as adoption and foster care.
Getting involved to Help Them Both
This summer, Her PLAN launched its Help Them Both campaign with five simple steps to encourage everyone to get involved in supporting life-affirming organizations in their communities. Executive Director Autumn Christensen explained:
The loving care and trusted services pregnancy centers, maternity homes, food pantries, thrift stores, and other life-affirming organizations offer are widespread, reliable, and essential. These organizations and countless other ministries make up the pro-life safety net that encompasses everything from medical, social, and material support to legal assistance, job training resources, childcare, counseling, after-abortion healing resources, housing, education support, and more…
This summer, Her PLAN is equipping individuals across the country with five simple steps to serve and support their local pregnancy centers, food pantries, thrift stores, and other life-affirming organizations. The need has never been greater, and we hope individuals and community leaders will take the first step this summer to donate, volunteer, or offer prayer support for these organizations that help vulnerable moms and their babies when they need it most.
Pro-life for the whole life
For years, opponents and skeptics of the pro-life movement have leveled a facile accusation that we care a great deal about babies before they are born, but abandon baby and mom after. Her PLAN and its many friends across the country are proving that’s just not true – in this case, one car, woman and child at a time.