Local agencies offer assistance for pregnant students
Dayna Lundin
Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: Lifestyles
Dixie State College students need to be aware that there are local options available if they are faced with an unexpected pregnancy or if they can't afford certain pregnancy essentials.
Planned Parenthood, 595 S. Bluff St., is one of the local agencies available as a resource for women and men. Karrie Galloway, CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said Planned Parenthood has been providing services in the St. George area since 1983. The services Planned Parenthood offers include, but are not limited to, education, referrals for affordable prenatal care, referral for licensed adoption agencies, and referrals and information for termination. She also said the staff at Planned Parenthood can provide information but not therapy.
Galloway said, "We are a healthcare organization that offers medical information and referrals for things not offered [onsite]."
Patients who visit Planned Parenthood can be assured their information is safe and confidential.
"We definitely abide by HIPPA rules and regulations," Galloway said. "We offer well women's healthcare and contraception for family planning. [We want woman] to be protected not only from pregnancy but STDs also."
Galloway said the cost of visiting Planned Parenthood is determined by the federal poverty level of the patient, how much the patient makes, and how many people are supported on that income. Patients under the age of 18 can be treated without parent's consent. She also said statewide, close to 50,000 patients are seen each year, and 12 percent of them are men seeking information or treatment for an STD or a vasectomy after their family is complete.
For more information on Planned Parenthood's services, call 674-9933, visit during their office hours 10a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or visit www.plannedparenthood.org.
Another resource available locally is the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, 427 W. 100 S., Suite B. All services at Hope are free and confidential. There is counseling for abortion and the other options available instead of abortion. Abortion or any service of its type is not condoned or performed at Hope.
Tracie Tice, director of the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, said: "Our main focus is the pregnancy and [the] choices available. Fear is what drives a person to an abortion, and other agencies are available for [that kind of] help."
The Hope Pregnancy Care Center of St. George has been in operation since July of 2005 and is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations, grants and the community, Tice said. Hope provides peer counseling by volunteers who have been through 50 hours of training to be able to counsel the women and men who frequent the facility. Tice said if professional counseling is needed by any patient he or she is referred to an offsite facility for his or her specific needs.
Members of the community can come to the center for various reasons: a free pregnancy test, to attend parenting classes, to attend classes to help them quit smoking, to rent educational books, and to purchase or earn items needed during pregnancy or for the baby. Hope offers help, information and education for the mother and baby until the baby is 1 year old.
Tice said, "We offer [an] earn while you learn [program], [which] covers anything to do with pregnancy, weekly or bi-weekly classes with videos and homework are part of the program."
Moms or couples can earn mommy bucks by attending classes and completing the homework given. Tice said the mommy bucks can be used to purchase things for the mom or baby onsite in the facility's store, Hannah's Boutique, which carries things essential for an expectant mom.
Hope offers groups for women so they can talk to other women in the same situation, Tice said. Hope also offers group and peer counseling for women in the community who have had an abortion so they can try to receive healing for the choice they have made no matter how many years have passed since the decision was made. She said Hope strives to provide a safe environment so women can feel comfortable talking with other women.
Hope does not offer any sort of contraceptives because they believe abstinence is the best protection.
Tice said: "We are a life affirming center. We try to get women at the very beginning of the pregnancy so we can help them through the whole process."
For more information about the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, call 656-5331, visit during business hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or visit www.hopepregnancyutah.org.
Planned Parenthood, 595 S. Bluff St., is one of the local agencies available as a resource for women and men. Karrie Galloway, CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said Planned Parenthood has been providing services in the St. George area since 1983. The services Planned Parenthood offers include, but are not limited to, education, referrals for affordable prenatal care, referral for licensed adoption agencies, and referrals and information for termination. She also said the staff at Planned Parenthood can provide information but not therapy.
Galloway said, "We are a healthcare organization that offers medical information and referrals for things not offered [onsite]."
Patients who visit Planned Parenthood can be assured their information is safe and confidential.
"We definitely abide by HIPPA rules and regulations," Galloway said. "We offer well women's healthcare and contraception for family planning. [We want woman] to be protected not only from pregnancy but STDs also."
Galloway said the cost of visiting Planned Parenthood is determined by the federal poverty level of the patient, how much the patient makes, and how many people are supported on that income. Patients under the age of 18 can be treated without parent's consent. She also said statewide, close to 50,000 patients are seen each year, and 12 percent of them are men seeking information or treatment for an STD or a vasectomy after their family is complete.
For more information on Planned Parenthood's services, call 674-9933, visit during their office hours 10a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or visit www.plannedparenthood.org.
Another resource available locally is the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, 427 W. 100 S., Suite B. All services at Hope are free and confidential. There is counseling for abortion and the other options available instead of abortion. Abortion or any service of its type is not condoned or performed at Hope.
Tracie Tice, director of the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, said: "Our main focus is the pregnancy and [the] choices available. Fear is what drives a person to an abortion, and other agencies are available for [that kind of] help."
The Hope Pregnancy Care Center of St. George has been in operation since July of 2005 and is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations, grants and the community, Tice said. Hope provides peer counseling by volunteers who have been through 50 hours of training to be able to counsel the women and men who frequent the facility. Tice said if professional counseling is needed by any patient he or she is referred to an offsite facility for his or her specific needs.
Members of the community can come to the center for various reasons: a free pregnancy test, to attend parenting classes, to attend classes to help them quit smoking, to rent educational books, and to purchase or earn items needed during pregnancy or for the baby. Hope offers help, information and education for the mother and baby until the baby is 1 year old.
Tice said, "We offer [an] earn while you learn [program], [which] covers anything to do with pregnancy, weekly or bi-weekly classes with videos and homework are part of the program."
Moms or couples can earn mommy bucks by attending classes and completing the homework given. Tice said the mommy bucks can be used to purchase things for the mom or baby onsite in the facility's store, Hannah's Boutique, which carries things essential for an expectant mom.
Hope offers groups for women so they can talk to other women in the same situation, Tice said. Hope also offers group and peer counseling for women in the community who have had an abortion so they can try to receive healing for the choice they have made no matter how many years have passed since the decision was made. She said Hope strives to provide a safe environment so women can feel comfortable talking with other women.
Hope does not offer any sort of contraceptives because they believe abstinence is the best protection.
Tice said: "We are a life affirming center. We try to get women at the very beginning of the pregnancy so we can help them through the whole process."
For more information about the Hope Pregnancy Care Center, call 656-5331, visit during business hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or visit www.hopepregnancyutah.org.
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