Volume 20 Issue 1

Metro News
The balance of funds were provided by more than 150 individuals and businesses who gave under $1,000 each.

April 2012

Metro News is a semi-annual publication of Metro Women's Center, a 501(c)3 organization. This publication is provided free of charge.

Amazing Grace Home now a reality!

Over the years, MWC has encountered increasing numbers of pregnant women who face homelessness while pregnant. MWC has been able to house some women in shepherding homes (private families that open their homes free of charge) or in local shelters, but many women still end up going from couch to couch without permanent housing, often placing themselves and their unborn children at risk. Minimal updating and minor repairs are now in process in preparation for occupancy by Inside this issue: live-in resident managers and up to four pregnant women. Directors Corner 2 No government funding has These women will enter the been provided for the project. Brists sponsor client aid fund 2 home in the first or early Rather, the funds were second trimester of their In their own words 3 provided by supporters who pregnancies and stay through Births to unwed women saw the need, took action, 4 the delivery of their babies. and invested their personal Gifts in memory & honor 5 resources in the project. AGHs program is designed Prayer & Praise 5 to build on the strengths of In early 2010, MWC began 3rd Annual Amazing Grace Walk 5 the residents, with each actively seeking a property woman playing an active role for the AGH and engaged a in her own success. The AGH Board of Directors realtor to help in the search. While MWC is one of 3,500 is not just a shelter. While By November 2011, a home Dave Sebald, President pregnancy resource centers in living at AGH, the women located in Fridley, Minnesota the United States, rough will be working on all areas Jennifer Moreau, Vice-President was identified and purchased estimates only show 400 of their lives: physical, finanfor $158,000. This 4 bedroom Lindsay Tuttle, Secretary residential homes that special, emotional, and spiritual. home will be operational by (Continued on page 3) cialize in meeting the needs Diane Eliason, Treasurer mid-summer 2012. of pregnant women. In Jon Baxter Minnesota there is only one actual maternity home, and Clare Erickson it is located 50 miles from the Pastor Floyd Lunde Twin Cities. In 2002, as an extension of its care for pregnant women in the area of housing, MWC began a capital campaign to establish the Amazing Grace Home (AGH) a Christianbased maternity home. By October 1, 2011, MWC had raised $267,000 to establish the home, raised from one gift of $50,000 and 15 gifts from one to ten thousand dollars.
Laura Martin Pastor Chuck Raichert Pastor Jeremy Stephens Center Staff Colleen Tronson, Director Tupee Garsinii, Administrative Assistant
Printed courtesy of Nystrom Publishing

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Metro News

April 2012

Directors Corner
by Colleen Tronson Colleen@MetroWomensCenter.org

We must be doing something right in Minnesota because the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) recently published a report attempting to discredit the good work of Minnesotas Pregnancy Care Centers (PRCs).

previous emotional instability? The women I see in my office for post-abortion help, weeping with regret, are not emotionally unstable; they are grieving, and their distress is not a myth.

I dont need a DSM listing to validate her The NARAL report complains pain or to help me that PRCs promote the myth figure out how to that women experience posthelp her; I need my abortion syndrome (PAS). They BIBLE! Just as David say PAS is not a valid problem could get no relief because experts have not listed from his sin until he repented it in the Diagnostics and Statis- (Psalm 51), post-abortive tics Manual (DSM). One prowomen (and men) can find the choice website states: same relief through God today.
The most reliable indicator of whether a woman will experience feelings of distress after an abortion is her emotional stability before the abortion.

growth and explains current abortion methods and the associated risks. This information has prompted many women to chose life. In fact, one of those mothers gave birth this spring.

Are you kidding me? Are they really saying that if a woman is emotionally stable before she has an abortion that she will be able to properly handle her babys death, but any distress she experiences is due to her

PRCs are a huge threat to the business of abortion in Minnesota and around the country. In 2008, Nancy Gibbs of Time magazine cited the evidence that the quiet campaign for womens hearts and minds conducted in thousands of crisis pregnancy centers around the country, on billboards, through phone banks The NARAL report also comand websites, is having an plains that PRCs provide inaccueffect in reducing abortion rate medical information about rates, which are down by one fetal development and the risks third from the U.S. high. of abortion in order to delay or mislead women who are seeking By steadily providing FREE abortions. At MWC information help to families, PRCs cost the on fetal development and abor- abortion industry money which tion methods is shared through is the real reason for their angst. the state-approved booklet If Seems to me that that if NARAL You Are Pregnant. This book- really cared about women, they let depicts the stages of fetal would welcome our help.

Brist Chiropractic raises funds for LIFE

Thank you to Dr. Jeff Brist and the staff of Brist Chiropractic & Naturopathic Wellness Center for raising $680 for the Acacia Fund, MWCs client assistance fund. Each year Dr. Brist hosts a day of free services at his clinic for individuals in exchange for their monetary donation to the fund. The Acacia Fund has been used to meet the financial needs of clients, up to $250, for car seats, bus passes, utilities, gasoline; and for life-affirming ultrasounds MWC is blessed to have the Acacia Fund to draw from in order to help meet our clients In one case, a clients car physical needs. If you are interneeded to be repaired so that she ested in contributing to this fund could get to work safely, and the in the future, please mark your Acacia Fund met her need. Ancontribution, Acacia Fund and other woman was considering mail it to MWCs Crystal office. abortion due to her financial situation. If a brother or sister is naked and Help in the form food, one of you of gas and grocer- destitute of dailyDepartandpeace, be says to them, in ies caused her to warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for slow down and to the body, what does it profit? rethink her choice.
James 2:15-16

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April 2012

In their own words MWC client comments

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:6

Take note
Constant Contact
To keep you informed about the ministry of MWC, the Center sends email newsletters. The newsletter is posted weekly and will come directly to your inbox. To sign up, go to MetroWomensCenter.org, click the Contact Us button on the left side of the screen, and enter your email address in the Join our mailing list sign up box. Questions or comments?
lindsay.tuttle@metrowomenscenter.org.

MWC clients complete an exit interview after visiting the Center. Here are some of their comments regarding the services they received from the staff and volunteers: Baby items I received by earning points were very helpful. They were honest with me, and even when we disagreed, she was polite. Did not feel pressure to disclose certain information if I was not comfortable. Felt able to talk freely, and I was not rushed through the process. Learned about taking care of my unborn baby from the videos I watched.

Nancy gave me advice from the Bible; it definitely made me think. Now I dont feel that Im alone in this crazy world and that there is hope. Office was orderly, and very discreet; liked doing my own pregnancy test. Really liked it when my advisor offered to pray with me. So relaxed and peaceful here; it took the nervousness out of the experience. Learned what God wants from me as His child; I plan to live for Him. There should be more places like this; I felt the peace of God in the Center.

United Way reminder

Consider MWC during your corporations United Way campaign. You can choose to donate to any qualifying agency. Metro Womens Center is not endorsed, supported by, nor in any way related to Greater Twin Cities United Way. If you wish to use the Donor Designated Option, write in Metro Womens Center, 6418 Bass Lake Road, Crystal, MN 55428.

Amazing Grace Home (Continued from page 1)

Components of the program will include life skills training, spiritual discipleship, and opportunities for the women to work on decisionmaking options regarding parenting or adoption planning for their babies. AGHs case manager will meet with residents weekly to establish goals and to assist them with accessing resources, such as medical care, educational programs, and employment. Together, they will explore plans for the future, not just for the present, in order to help set each woman up for success whether she parents or makes an adoption plan. While residing at AGH, no cash assistance or state food support will be necessary as basic needs (food and shelter) will be provided by the home. Medical assistance and WIC support may be obtained as needed. meals, will maintain their own living space, and have weekly tasks assigned to help keep the home in good order. No use of alcohol, street drugs, abuse of prescription drugs, or smoking of any kind, will be permitted in or around the Residents will be expected home. Biblical principles to be employed and/or will be used as a guide for attending some type of helping the residents grow school unless medically proand change, and weekly hibited. If a resident has not church attendance will be a completed her high school residency requirement. education, she will work towards a GED or high Each pregnant womans school diploma. application will be considered on its own merit and A healthy lifestyle will be reviewed by an application modeled for the residents by team as to the appropriatethe staff. AGH residents will ness of the placement. participate in planning

You can watch a walking tour of the new home, taken the day of the closing, at:
www.youtube.com/metrowomenscenter

As this project moves ahead, your prayers are needed for the ongoing refurbishing projects to be completed safely, for the staff and women who will eventually live in the home, for ongoing financial support (approx. $75,000 year) to operate the home each year. If you would like to help with any aspect of the home, please call the office at 763-533-8642. or e mail
amazinggracehome @metrowomenscenter.org

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April 2012

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver For Women Under 30,word fitly spoken is likeOccurgold in pictures Marriage Most Births apples of Outside of silver A
Information from an article published in the New York Times, February 18, 2012, Page A1 by Jason DeParle and Sabrina Tavennise

It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under age 30 occur outside of a marriage. Once, largely limited to poor women and minorities, motherhood without marriage has settled deeply into middle America. The fastest growth in the last two decades has occurred among white women in their 20s who have some college education but no fouryear degree, according to Child Trends, a research group that analyzed government data. Among mothers of all ages, a majority 59 percent in 2009 are married when they have children. But the surge of births outside marriage among younger women nearly twothirds of children in the United States are born to mothers under 30 is both a symbol of the transforming family and a hint of generational change. One group still largely resists the trend: college graduates, who overwhelmingly marry before having children. That is turning family structure into a new class divide, with the economic and social rewards of marriage increasingly reserved for those most educated. Marriage has become a luxury good, said Frank Furstenberg,

a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania.

give birth, compared with 62 percent of women with some post-secondary schooling and The shift is affecting childrens 43 percent of women with a lives. Researchers have consishigh school diploma or less, tently found that children born according to Child Trends. outside marriage face elevated risks of falling into poverty, Almost all of the rise in nonfailing in school or suffering marital births has occurred emotional/behavioral problems. among couples living together. The forces rearranging the While in some countries such family are as diverse as global- relationships endure at rates ization and the pill. Liberal that resemble marriages, in the analysts argue that shrinking United States they are more paychecks have thinned the than twice as likely to dissolve ranks of marriageable men, than marriages. while conservatives often say In a summary of research from that the sexual revolution the University of Michigan, it reduced the incentive to wed was reported that two-thirds of and that safety net programs couples living together split up discourage marriage. before their child turned 10. By the mid-1990s, a third of Explanations for marital decline Americans were born outside often start with home econommarriage. Congress, largely ics: men are worth less than blaming welfare, imposed they used to be. Among men tough restrictions. Now the with some college but no figure is 41 percent and 53 degrees, earnings have fallen 8 percent for children born to percent in the past 30 years, women under 30, according to according to the Bureau of Child Trends, which analyzed Labor Statistics, while the 2009 data from the National earnings of their female counCenter for Health Statistics. terparts have risen by 8 percent. The publication last month of Fifty years ago, researchers Coming Apart, a book by have found, as many as a third Charles Murray, a longtime of American marriages were critic of non-marital births has precipitated by a pregnancy, sparked new interest in this with couples marrying to mainissue. 73% of black children tain respectability. are born outside marriage, compared with 53 percent of W. Bradford Wilcox, Latinos and 29 percent of University of Virginia, said whites. And educational differ- other government policies, like ences are growing. About 92 no-fault divorce, signaled that percent of college-educated marriage is not as fundamental women are married when they to society as it once was.

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April 2012

Gifts in memory & honor, praises & prayer requests

In Memory of:
Bill Garber by Sheldon & Arliss Miller by Jenny Eldredge by Phyllis Ellefson by Anonymous Donors Verna Gruber by Betty Seymour Irene Peterson by Donna Smith Robert F. Reed by Beth Bastian Hannah Rose Simpson by Andy Simpson

MWC praises God for:

new volunteers coming to help at the office. parents who choose life over abortion for their children. opportunities to share Christ with clients. gifts of diapers, car seats, and baby items for clients. financial provision for the Center and Amazing Grace Home project. final purchase of a property for the Amazing Grace Home. donations for AGH of gift baskets, a van for transporting clients and a central airconditioning system.

MWC asks prayer for:

women to chose life over abortion for their children. parents who are trying to make decisions regarding parenting or adoption for their unborn children. fathers of babies to step forward to protect the lives of their children from abortion. individuals who are suffering in the aftermath of the abortion choice. spiritual refreshment from the Word of God for staff and clients. discernment as Resident Managers for the Amazing Grace Home are chosen.

Pennies pile up!

Since the beginning of the Change for Life baby bottle campaign in 2004, over $6,400 has been provided for the Amazing Grace Home. These funds have been used to establish the home and future funds will be used for ongoing operating expenses. To become a Change for Life partner, call 763-533-8642.

Please Save the Date

3rd Annual Am azing Grace Walk/Bike

Sat ur d ay , May 1 2 , 2 0 1 2 9 a.m . t o Noon
Clif t on E. Fr e n ch Par k, 1 2 6 1 5 Coun t y Road 9 , Ply m out h ,
Join us for a one-mile walk/bike suitable for the whole family! Everyone is welcome whether you raise funds or not! FREE face-painting, snacks, and balloon animals created by Baloo & Mz Tootsie, the clowns. All ages will enjoy the music of the Sauerkraut String Band. Plan to stock up on spring plants, vegetable seedlings, & flowers at the Little Sprouts table!

Register and raise funds online at: www.firstgiving.com/metrowomenscenter Download paper copy of registration form at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/82487005/AGWB-Brochure-Sample-2012-PDF

For more information or to volunteer at the event: email walk@metrowomenscenter.org or call Jon at 612-702-7626.
Proceeds from this event will provide for the ongoing operating expenses of the Amazing Grace Home.

6418 Bass Lake Road Crystal, MN 55428

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 4608

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The purpose of the Metro Womens Center is to educate the community about pregnancy alternatives so that informed decisions concerning the outcome of a pregnancy can be made. The Center places value on human life from conception forward and seeks to offer a compassionate Christian response to the needs of those confronted with unplanned pregnancies. In presenting the love of Christ through its ministry, the Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, financial or marital status. The Centers services are free of charge.

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Metro Womens Center needs your help! $250 a day operates this LIFE-AFFIRMING ministry.