Crisis Pregnancy Center (By:Sieda Felder)

I completed my volunteer work at the Crisis Pregnancy Center of eastern Illinois University. This center provides services to women of all ages who are or think they may be expecting an unplanned child. I will be completing my internship with this organization during the spring semester of 2013 and I took this volunteer opportunity to learn more about some of the task I will be completing while there. The CPC of EIU is located on 260 W. Locust Ave in Charleston IL and is one of four centers that are in central Illinois. The other three centers are located in Mattoon, Casey, and Paris. I completed my volunteer work over the course of two days, October 16th (3 Hours) and November 6th (3 hours). I worked under the centers organizers Jessica and Anna and learned how a typical day goes in the center and also about some of the services and programs that are offered through CPC.

 

The Center is a Christian based organization that does not advocate abortion or adoption but will provide woman with information about each subject for those who are considering either option. It is estimated that over 75% of women faced with unwanted pregnancies and who are considering abortion will reconsider after seeing an ultrasound of the unborn child, this fact alone is one of the reasons that the CPC offers free ultrasounds to clients for the first four months of pregnancy. Other services that are provided include free pregnancy test, counseling for women and their families, and also a program to help expecting mothers learn about caring for their children while earning items for their child.

 

While volunteering, I compared many of the aspects of the CPC to the topics discussed in the Disadvantaged families’ class. Jessica and Anna explained to me that many of their clients are women who have low-income and also teen mothers who have little support or financial help from their parents or the father of the child. This factor places many of the mothers and their future children at risk for being disadvantaged.

 

While completing the volunteer work, I gained experience that I need to successfully complete my internship and I also received the opportunity to meet and become acquainted with my site supervisors Jessica and Anna.