TEXARKANA, Texas -- 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center has a new, $220,000 mobile unit to expand its services to the Atlanta, DeKalb, New Boston and Fouke areas.
The mobile unit will be making a couple of stops this year, but will begin rolling out on a consistent basis beginning early next year, said Kristie Wright, the center's executive director.
"The purpose was to be able to reach clients who cannot get to us," she said.
Transportation to 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center, located downtown at 602 Main St., can be a hindrance for many women. Rising fuel costs has made it even more difficult for many potential clients to access the center's services, Wright said.
1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center offers free help to confirm a pregnancy, educate women about their available options and also offers support through parenting classes and baby clothing.
Wright ultimately hopes 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center has volunteers and advocates who live in the areas the mobile unit will serve.
Fundraising for the new mobile unit began in 2018 with a fall fundraiser, Wright said. Big donations from a couple of churches, winning a grant at a conference and the Knights of Columbus' donation of funds for the ultrasound machine, along with myriad other donations, made the mobile unit a reality.
Overall, the money for the mobile unit was raised in nine months.
"It is a pretty easy idea to get behind, people like the idea of it ... But for COVID we would have been on the road in 2020," Wright said.
The pandemic has caused havoc for so many services, nonprofits and industries, but 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center is headed in the right direction, Wright said, by getting the unit out to potential clients who need the services brought closer to them.
The center does not refer women to abortions clinics, instead educating women about other options.
Wright said in years past, mobile units would park near abortion clinics so women would have the opportunity to hear the heartbeat before making a decision.
Save the Storks, a nonprofit organization, helps equip pregnancy resource centers like the Texarkana area's 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center and played a part in the mobile unit donation.
The mobile unit is named Leah, which is the name of one of 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center's donors.
(For more information about 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center's services in Texarkana or through their new mobile unit, call 903-792-5735 or after hours call 1-800-712-HELP.)
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