This post is written entirely for our supporters. We are so grateful for each one of you!
I love the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. The speaker in the poem expresses a desire to stay in the woods he is passing through, to enjoy the beauty and calm.
I can totally relate to the desire to stop and breathe it all in.
The year 2018 was chalk-full of action. In September we opened a satellite location in Collingwood to serve the South Georgian Bay (SGB) community. We changed the name of our organization from “Barrie Pregnancy Resource Centre” to “Envisage Pregnancy Services” to better reflect the expansion of our service area. And we were privileged to journey with 253 individuals through various aspects of pregnancy challenges, including …
• 868 visits through our main Barrie office
• 20 visits through our SGB satellite
• 52 pregnancy tests (19 positive, 33 negative)
• 83 individuals exploring pregnancy options
• 86 childbirth classes taught
• 24 babies born to families we supported
• 8 births supported by our doula team
• 1 birth-mother supported as she placed her baby for adoption
• 3 clients receiving grief support after abortion
While there is a tremendous value in rest and in reflection of what God has done, there is also a need to keep pressing on, because like the speaker in Frost’s poem … we have “miles to go before we sleep”.
MILES TO GO …
As we enter a new year and continue to hear from new individuals facing very difficult pregnancy situations, we are so aware that we have “miles to go” to respond to these needs. In South Georgian Bay we already see a need to increase our hours of operation by opening a third day per week. In Barrie we hear from individuals in Innisfil, Bradford and Alliston, who cannot always travel to Barrie for support. We long to establish branch locations in these communities where we can send our current team to meet with clients by appointment. And over the years we have become increasingly aware of the need to provide a more formal support program to those who have experienced pregnancy loss (15-25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage and 4.3 out of 1000 end in stillbirth) We long to provide care in each of these situations in a way that shines hope.
As we look at the year ahead, we see good things. One opportunity before us is the fact that the remaining $220,000 on our mortgage at our main location in Barrie (5 Sophia St. East) is due for renewal in August. This provides an opportunity to reduce our monthly payments by reducing the principal as much as possible, before we renew in August. In fact, if the mortgage was eliminated completely, we would be able to begin meeting the needs described above in early 2020.
⇩MORTGAGE = ⇧FAMILIES SERVED
While raising $220,000 is no small thing, it is actually quite “doable” when the amount is spread amongst all the individuals, families, churches and businesses that support Envisage. Last year during our baby bottle campaign, we distributed over 2000 bottles through 33 participating churches. If 1100 people, churches or businesses all donated $200 each, our mortgage would be paid! Or if only 200 people, churches or businesses donated $1,100 each, our mortgage would be paid!
PRAY AND CONSIDER
We are SO incredibly grateful for each person who partners financially with Envisage! It is your generosity and faithfulness that allows us to provide wholistic service and support to each person who contacts us. We realize that donating $200 is not in some budgets … and that others can give beyond $1,100. Whatever your capacity might be, would you join us in praying about this matter of our mortgage. Our prayer at Envisage constantly is that God would provide for the ministry in the way and timing that He wants to, so that we can serve when, how and where He wants us to. Would you join us in praying this and also pray about whether He would have you be part of the solution?
Thank you so much for your care for the teens, women, men, families, and babies we serve. Without your partnership, we would be nothing.
Kathy Pedersen
Executive Director