Human Services Oral Presentation John Sundberg 4/16/09 Options Now/Arms of Love Pregnancy Resource Center

1. My presentation is on Arms of Love Pregnancy Resource Center, which is called Options Now. They are located at 4854 N. Alby Road in Godfrey IL. The hours of operation are: Monday and Tuesday 11am - 8pm, Thursday and Friday 11am 5pm. They are closed on Wednesday. 2. I chose Options Now for two reasons: First, because I am a strong believer in their prolife ministry and I think they do a great job there. Secondly, as a human service professional, you will inevitably come into contact with clients who are pregnant and looking for options and/or help dealing with their pregnancy or a child they may already have. 3. The populations they serve are 50% african-american and skews mostly to the poverty level, however they do serve some middle class. Most clients ages range from 16-25 to as young as 11 years old. They serve clients from Carrolton IL, all the way to Wood River, so very rural to urban communities. They get from 2000 - 3000 visits a year. 500 - 600 of which are new visitors. They work closely with the local schools and put on many presentations there. Something else you might like to know is that every student in the LCCC nursing program comes through the facilities. 4. Options Now is a non-profit Christian based organization whose mission is as follows: to minister as Jesus Christ would to women and families, providing care, support, and resources related to pregnancy and child-rearing. They provide many helpful resources for the client and their baby that are all free of charge. They have a variety of programs and classes the client can choose from to complete the main pregnancy program which is a total of eight visits. The basic pregnancy program consists of one-on-one peer counseling with each session providing topics related to the clients' pregnancy, or the client may choose the option of completing 8 different parenting classes; or the client can choose a combination of both one-on-one sessions and parenting classes. At the end of each visit, the client will receive a gift bag of items that will assist in the client getting all the items they will need for their baby when he or she arrives. After completion of the clients' eighth visit, but no earlier than the eighth month of pregnancy, Options Now will provide items such as: a crib or bassinet, mattress, car seat, baby bath tub, etc. depending on what they have available. They donate several dozen car seats and baby beds, and about 30,000 diapers a year. The 8 basic classes in the pregnancy program include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Intake which includes a Pregnancy test Hope Getting to know your client Nutrition in pregnancy My pregnancy "The One" which is a relationships class Taking home the baby

8. Future goals Another option for completing the eight visits is their Pathway program, which is a Christian based program designed simply to assist the client in finding a "pathway" to God. The Pathway sessions begin with a pregnancy test, and follow through with teaching about sin and forgiveness, prayer and understanding the Bible. The parenting classes available to the client can be taken in conjunction with the Pregnancy program but not the pathway program. The parenting classes are as follows: 1. Infant CPR/First Aid 2. Infant Care 3. Healthy Options & Positive Encouragement (HOPE) 4. Infant and child communication 5. Lamaze 6. Breastfeeding 7. Budgeting 8. Infant massage 9. Stress 10. Labor & Delivery 11. Nutrition Options Now also has another program for anyone who is not pregnant but in need of material services for other children the client may have. This program is called the Life Skills Program. These classes are offered at various times and dates so the client will need to call ahead for availability. The Life Skills program has classes that deal with practical issues such as: sex, love and relationships; money managing; apartment and house renting; child care assistance; marriage and relationships; potty training, and a GED class. If the client is in need of items for their baby, Options Now will provide diapers, clothes, and many other items. The client must have a session for the items they receive. If the client is working towards their 8 session package, they can receive items for their other children while they do so. Options Now also has a medical center with a doctor on staff on Thursdays from 1:30pm to 4pm. The doctor will see clients by appointment only. He is a retired OB-GYN that will provide free ultrasounds, pelvic exams, prenatal vitamins, and std testing if needed. To qualify for the free ultrasound, the client must be at least 8 weeks pregnant. They also offer refferals for medical care, community resources, adoption, legal assistance, and temporary shelters. Options Now has an adoption specialist to go over all of the clients' options as well. They have plenty of resources and advice to help the client make a decision, and they have a birth mother on call that the client can talk to. They also certify pregnancies for welfare agencies. Finally, Options Now has a Peace ministry for individuals that are suffering from a past abortion. These women are post-abortive themselves and can help to ease the pain that the client may be feeling. 5. Options Now is mostly volunteer based, some of which have degrees. They also do onsite training for the volunteers that work there.

6. They are a non-profit organization. 7. They are funded by donations, most of which come from local churches and individuals. They also rent a portion of their building to a salon. 8. The biggest concerns for today's economy is that donations have suffered a bit, but they are okay for now. Options Now has good credibility so they are doing well right now even with the recession. 9. The agency is located in a building that resembles a strip mall, the Harmony Salon group is on the right side of the building. They have a small parking lot which is adequate for their services and they have a newer sign you can see clearly from the street. I met with Ron Wenzel, who is the executive director. We met on March 16 at 5:15 at the agency. He can be reached at 618-466-1690 or ron4jc2@yahoo.com. They are not connected with the 211 service as of yet; however after my inquiring about it, they are now looking into it.