PACN director celebrates 20 years of caring for parents, babies alike

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- The Pregnancy Assistance Center North is just fine being stuck in the middle. With the goal of taking a medically driven, Christian approach to consulting, PACN pours its resources into the betterment of pregnant women, many of them young, and their partners. PACN cares for parents and babies alike. In the political arena, those two directives often seem at odds, but at PACN, Executive Director Cindy Sunday Powell and a staff that has grown to 17 full and part-time employees and two offices are not about a slogan, but about helping clients.

"We don't want to have an agenda of our own," says Powell, who has been on staff at PACN for the past 19 years going on 20. Powell has witnessed the success of taking fear and rhetoric out of the unplanned pregnancy conversation. "We are Christian-based, and we go by what God would want us to do. God cares for everyone and leaves choices up to us. If they make choices they later regret, we are still here to help. We're all human, we make good choices and not-so-good choices."

Powell knows what it's like to be faced with a tough decision. When she first began volunteering with the program in the early 1990s, back when it was called Living Alternatives, she was offered a director's position. Enjoying a successful career in international marketing and the salary that accompanied it, Powell shook her head at the notion of giving it all up to operate a non-profit. "I didn't want to pray about it," she says. "I thought, this is not a call from God, this is a call from my friend." Soon, however, Powell's love and dedication to teenagers, and her dedication to treating them with dignity, won out.

20-plus years later, PACN sees 7,000 client visits a year, consulting with young people in prenatal care, childbirth, relationships, parenting, sexual integrity, sexual abuse, and post-abortion counseling. What started with the support of eight churches and eight volunteers has support from 52 churches, as well as numerous individuals and foundations, and 130 volunteers contributing their efforts each week.

PACN offers consulting and medical care for young mothers, fathers and babies alike. It is adding a well-woman visit component to their medical offerings for young women this year to meet the health needs of their clients. PACN has an office in The Woodlands off the I-45 feeder, and another in Conroe on San Jacinto Street. It serves client of all ages—though the majority are between the ages of 15 and 24. PACN typically helps a young mother during her pregnancy up until her baby is one year old.

"We wanted a Christian center that wouldn't tell a girl what to do. We will educate them, treat them with respect," Powell says. "The Pregnancy Center drew me because they didn't want people who were just about the baby. It had to be about the baby and the mother and the father. Yes, that's exactly right."

Its Vouch for Success incentive program helps motivate young mothers and fathers to get on the right track and stay headed for success. Consultants help young parents set goals, and clients earn points for every step they take—some as simple as going to prenatal appointments or signing their children up for the WIC food-subsidy program, others as ambitious as finishing high school and pursuing higher education. Points can be exchanged for necessary items such as baby items, furnishings for an apartment, or maternity clothes. PACN's "It's All Good" thrift shop next door to its Conroe office offers secondhand items to raise funds for services and gives clients a place to shop.

"All of our services are provided at no cost, but are responsibility-based," Powell says. "We don't want to be a handout agency. We want to give our clients a good start… We're letting them decide what they want to do with their life and we help them figure out how to get there."

For more information about Pregnancy Assistance Center North, visit the link below.