OWENTON, Ky. (KT) – A pregnancy resource center is coming to a small community in Owen County, and Kentucky Baptists are leading the charge.
When Kelli Carper, a registered nurse, moved to northern Kentucky, she wanted to build on her 20 years of service in pregnancy help ministry near her new home. She didn’t set out to start a new ministry.
But mission trips to western and eastern Kentucky with New Bethel Baptist Church in 2022 provided opportunities to serve local pregnancy centers, and those experiences planted a seed in Carper. She began researching towns near her home that weren’t within 30 minutes of a pregnancy resource center (PRC).
“Over several months Owenton just kept coming to my mind,” Carper said. “I’d never even been to Owenton, and I didn’t know anything about it at the time.”
Carper discussed her idea for a pregnancy center with her pastor, Chad Brannan, and Don Coleman, the associational mission strategist (AMS) for her area.
She envisioned a ministry “that would not just help with practical resources like diapers and wipes, you know, the things that we all think about when we hear ‘pregnancy center.’ But our mission is also to bring hope and the gospel to women and families that are facing unplanned pregnancy.”
“I was immediately onboard with it,” said Coleman, who serves both the Ten Mile and Owen County Associations. “With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the need for Christian-based PRCs has become even greater.”
Carper began researching how to start a pregnancy center, spoke with people in the community and the local health department and consulted other Kentucky PRCs for insight on how to move forward. Kay Hammond, executive director of Appalachian Pregnancy Care Center in Pikeville, told Carper that she didn’t need to know exactly what she was doing in order to proceed.
“She had started (APCC) way back when, and just had a lot of really good advice and encouragement for me,” Carper said.
A steering committee, which includes Carper, Coleman and Brannan, has continued blazing a path forward. Their research and ongoing work have included following a “how to” guide produced by Heartbeat International, a network of pro-life pregnancy help medical clinics, PRCs, maternity homes and adoption agencies.
Hope Lives Pregnancy Center soon took shape.
In the past year, the fledgling ministry has obtained their business license from Kentucky, filed for nonprofit status, set up an email list to update supporters, formed the steering committee that will transition into a board of directors, started fundraising, assembled a prayer team and rented a storage space that is quickly filling with material resources.
“We had a doctor in northern Kentucky donate an exam table, we had Care Net (Pregnancy Services of Northern Kentucky)…donate an ultrasound machine and we have office and client chairs, several boxes of baby clothes (and) diapers,” Carper said.
When it comes to medical services, Hope Lives is aiming to provide pregnancy testing and limited ultrasounds that confirm pregnancy — that is Carper’s skill set.
“Many, many women do change their mind from abortion when they see their baby,” Carper said. “And it doesn’t mean it makes all their problems go away, but it opens their heart and it makes them want to figure out how to make this work because they are able to bond with their baby.”
Hope Lives will also provide mentoring, education on parenting and childbirth, group Bible studies and material assistance. Referring to local organizations that can help women facilitate the adoption of their babies is another goal.
Carper noted that developing church partnerships to support Hope Lives is important; Coleman agreed.
“We are counting on prayer support from our churches and for their ongoing financial and material support for the ministry,” Coleman said. “In addition to that, Hope Lives will need a lot of volunteers from our churches.”
Carper has already spoken about the ministry to local WMU chapters and the executive board meetings for both the Owen County and Ten Mile Associations, and a speaking schedule that will put her in front of local churches is in the works. Hope Lives also has a permanent spot in the monthly associational e-newsletter.
Coleman said that “the pastors and churches across both associations have been very supportive.”
A Mother’s Day offering throughout the associations shattered a $10,000 fundraising goal in support of Hope Lives, raising $18,000 toward getting the center off the ground.
“We were so excited about that,” said Carper.
Though much progress has been made toward opening Hope Lives, Carper said there isn’t a set timeline for when the center will begin operating in Owenton. That is, in part, due to a careful search for the building that will house it.
“We’re just really wanting to be real strategic about where we place it and the sensitivity in a small town for privacy,” Carper said. “That kind of thing is really important.”
“There’s just a lot of hurry up and wait when you’re setting up something like this,” Carper said. “But in the waiting, I feel like God is just strengthening my faith and just reminding me, you know, that there are women and families out there that do need help even now, today. And God’s going to provide that even if our doors aren’t open yet.”
“We have a long way to go, and neither Kelli, pastor Chad, the other members of the board, nor I know very much about how to get something like this up and going,” Coleman added. “But we all believe that Hope Lives Pregnancy Center is needed in Owen County, and we believe that God is in it.”
Learn more and find ways to support Hope Live Pregnancy Center by following the ministry on Facebook. A website is currently in development.
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