Another Day In A Prc.

[arfink]

As some of you know, I work with a large group of pregnancy resource centers. I'm their social media and communications guy. My job is to help them with outreach to their clients and their supporters online as best I can, which usually revolves around things like websites and Facebook pages and the like. Well, I've been there a month, and every day there is a new surprise and has things that catch me completely off guard.

 

For example, today I was sent to visit one of our locations in North Minneapolis, located in the heart of what is probably the single worst neighborhood in the entire metro area. Their crime rate is very high, especially drug crime and violent crime, and poverty is commonplace. At first glance I had difficulty believing that to be true. The sun was bright, the sky was beautiful, things seemed good. People were out and about on the street and going about their business. I knew something was different about the neighborhood though, when I pulled up to a stoplight and had a brand new silver Charger pull up beside me.

 

All the windows were down, and two men in very expensive looking clothes sat in silence inside. As they came to a stop, a man in ragged clothes got up off the bus bench on the sidewalk, and leaned into the passenger side window and asked "How much you got today?" There followed a poorly-concealed exchange of cash and plastic baggies. I couldn't quite believe what I witnessed, in the middle of a busy intersection in broad daylight! Needless to say, I was rather shaken. This feeling continued as I reached the pregnancy center and stepped inside.

 

The office was cool and clean, and smelled of hospital disinfectant. Not exactly comforting, but certainly hospitable and businesslike. I was greeted by a short and slight woman, who I learned is the director. She had a firm and confident manner in everything she said and did, and I imagine if she felt the need, she'd gladly step outside and go toe to toe with a gangster, if it meant saving a baby's life. We sat down and talked about Facebook, of all things. She asked me if I had input for her, but as I looked around me I was coming to the realization that I wasn't there to teach her, I was there to learn. So I started asking questions: What are your clients like? How do you usually reach them? How can I help you do better?

 

I learned that most of them are black or hispanic. Many are first generation immigrants. Many of them speak no English. While most of our other centers report relatively few rape-related pregnancies, nearly every single pregnancy at this center is somehow connected to rape or abuse. Most of their clients return many times, unable to escape from the poverty and abuse they endure every single day. She told the story of a woman on her 8th pregnancy who had visited her the day before, as she dealt with an absentee husband, in jail for multiple murders, and a new abusive boyfriend. She let herself be abused this way because she believed it was the only way to have money or a roof over her head. But now she was pregnant again, and desperately needed help.

 

Of course, none of their clients have computers. A few have smartphones, but few of them can actually afford to use them. Nearly all of their clients were being referred to them by the local welfare offices, or by their friends. As I talked with her, it became very obvious that Facebook marketing will do nothing to directly bring them clients. They're up to their neck in desperate women, they don't need a Facebook page to tell them where to find them. They could just show up at the local Walmart offering free pregnancy tests if they ever had a slow week, and they never have a slow week. In fact, another local pregnancy resource center actually does just that, to great success. Amidst all this desperation, I have been struggling to figure out how I can help these people in their mission here in North Minneapolis.

 

I'm still not sure what role I'm going to play in helping them, but I'm very determined to find a way to help their center. They are always in need of young people to volunteer there, and I bet I know a few ways I could help them spin a successful volunteer drive, and get the word out to young people who want to help. And I can pray.

 

I hope all of you will also pray for the work that goes on in pregnancy resource centers. Please please pray for our work! We really need it. Thanks.

Edited June 27, 2013 by arfink

[Ice_nine]

That's tough man. Prayers to ya and props for doing SOMETHING in a difficult battleground.

[ChristinaTherese]

I just volunteered at a PRC today for the first time, and I'll keep doing that throughout this summer.

[arfink]

God bless you Christina Therese. Good luck out there.

[ChristinaTherese]

God bless you Christina Therese. Good luck out there.

:awesomelyreflectivemirrorsendingyourwordsbackatyouandonlychangingyourname: (That should be an emoticon.... I don't know how else to say what I want without switching from my normal way of speaking and feeling awkward even though it would look fine.)

[Anastasia13]

Praying for you and the work they do.

[KnightofChrist]

Praying! Good luck with your work, sounds fun actually, I'd like new challenges every day. It's boring otherwise.

[MissyP89]

Interesting to me how we're all so focused on new media and progressive tech ... when sometimes, at the end of the day, all we can really do is meet people where they're at.

[arfink]

Missy, I have found that at most of our centers, the social media actually does help. Some of our locations have a 75% or higher reporting rate on intake forms that the women coming in found out about us online. It's these really rough inner city places where that doesn't hold true.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

Arfink, what is the difference between a PRC and a CPC? 

[arfink]

No real difference, it's just all about how you choose to talk about 'em.