Pro-life walk raises money for crisis pregnancies

By Catherine E. Hanley
The Catholic Sun

FLAGSTAFF — Serving women and saving babies throughout Coconino County for the past 29 years, the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center held its annual Walk for Life May 13.

The event didn’t have posters, signs, speeches or loudspeakers.

“The invitation to put on walking shoes and join with family and friends in supporting life for the unborn child yielded the largest crowd in the fundraiser’s nine-year history,” said Rosanna Tarr, executive director of the center.

Participants donned bright red “Walk for Life” T-shirts and some held pro-life balloons, walking along the two-mile course through the Northern Arizona University campus.

The center has no paid staff and operates solely with volunteers — from the help-line receptionist to the ultrasound technician — so each donated dollar goes directly to program services.

Tarr said the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center is the only life-affirming pregnancy resource center in Coconino County, the second largest U.S. geographic county. It reaches out to women experiencing problems related to pregnancy, regardless of age, marital status, religious belief or race.

Services respect the human person and promote the sanctity of human life. They include pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, chastity and abstinence education, counseling, medical and legal referrals and emotional guidance.

All services are free and confidential and there is no qualifying process.

“Although the center provides all the hands-on care, each woman is also placed in the hands of God,” said volunteer Joan Edel, who coordinates the center’s prayer line from her home in Ash Fork.

Many women who ask for prayers feel family members, work or school situations, or challenging conditions pressure them to have an abortion.

Prayer requests are also made on behalf of women in crisis who first connect with the center post- abortion.

In 2005 the center operated only eight hours a week, with its volunteer staff responding to a total of 1,036 client contacts, Tarr said. As of April 2006, the staff had seen more clients than they had through June of last year.

With this rate of growth, the center’s goal is to increase services to a minimum of four hours each day, five days a week.

To accomplish this, it will be necessary to offer a minimum salary for one executive director and one counselor and to increase the number of volunteers providing direct services, Tarr said.

“People are very generous,” she said. “In addition to monetary donations, other items such as maternity clothes, blankets, baby clothes, formula, diapers and other items necessary for daily living are also deeply appreciated.”

For information, call Rosanna Tarr at (928) 774-8302 or 1-877-205-2178.