Dear wonderful CAPS Teams,
Happy Personnel Appreciation!!!
I hope you felt the love last week as we celebrated our wonderful staff and volunteers.
We are finishing up follow-up after our big fundraising dinner. Thank you to all who have prayed and continue to pray for our financial support and supporters. We need those prayers to continue strengthening all of our teams at CAPS.
And, just a reminder that I pray for all of you by name 😊 for protection, for your families and that God would give you all the wisdom, knowledge, empathy, strength, courage, grace, peace and so much more as you serve those who come through our doors and with your fellow co-laborers.
May you experience God’s presence and know that you are so loved and appreciated by all of us at CAPS.
Julie
Some Celebrations!
UCSD is open and seeing patients 🙂
PCS Class is over and went great! Get ready to meet the new volunteers 🙂
PACE
Why should we be more purposeful to promote PACE support to our patients?
- 45% of abortions are a subsequent abortions (the woman’s second or third+ abortion). Women who have had an abortion that they have not grieved is the highest risk factor for another abortion. Typically, a woman feels both relief and grief after the procedure. If they do not feel they can grieve that loss, they metaphorically “put those feelings in a box on a top shelf out of reach”. This leaves them mostly feeling relief. Once they have grieved this loss, they are far less likely to have a subsequent abortion. It used to be that being single or being a college student were the highest risk factors, but that is changing.
- 34% of women reported an adverse change in themselves following their abortion, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide following their abortion.
- 73% reported “irregular to never” attendance at religious services. None of the women said they would seek counseling from a clergy person.
(These statistics and the research study can be found on Support After Abortion’s website.)
We want to create a safe space for these women to grieve in a healthy way. It is healthy for the woman, and for her current or future children. We want these women to be emotionally present and available to their children, which requires healing their heart through healthy grief.
The research shows that 73% of women studied did not attend church and would never seek counsel from a clergy person. But they are coming to our clinics and we are the Church. Every woman that I (Devon) have talked with wants to know how to forgive herself. That is what she says she needs to have peace with her choice. I have found that conversations on forgiveness naturally lead to questions of faith. We have more opportunities to talk about faith through PACE because of the on-going relationship and their desire for forgiveness.
What CAPS offers:
Keys to Hope and Healing is the gateway to start a conversation about healing from abortion. It opens the door to start the journey and consists of six keys to work through as an individual and then meet with their PACE mentor to discuss it. The keys build on each other, digging a little deeper into the past hurt that abortion has caused and to reflect on how their abortion experience has impacted their current emotions and behaviors. It includes stories from others that helps them feel that they are not alone. There are two versions of the Keys to Hope and Healing workbook, one that is faith based and one that is not.
How you can encourage patients:
It is so powerful for a woman to hear from another woman that they have found healing. It gives hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel and they can unpack the burden they have been carrying. PCS, please continue to make referrals to PACE. Give Laurie to opportunity to say, “I have been there. I have found healing and you can too. Let me walk that journey with you.” And the patient can decide to participate or not, but at least she has heard that healing is possible and knows where to go when she is ready.
If she indicated on the intake form that she has had an abortion(s) and struggles from that experience, the PCS will say: “I know that it is possible for you to experience healing from your past abortion(s). We have a team member with CAPS name Laurie who struggled for years after having an abortion, experienced her own healing and is available to meet with our patients so that they can experience their own healing. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to make a referral for you to connect with Laurie. Is that okay?” Let’s give a gentle push to begin the path of healing! If she is against it and directly says “no”, then respect it and do not make the referral. If she says “yes” or is ambivalent or undecided, please make the referral. Lean towards hope and healing.
Here is a story about a recent PACE patient:
When Cindy* was initially seen for a PTV and ultrasound, she indicated on her patient intake forms that she is a Christian and is still trying to heal from a past abortion. Her PCS asked when she had the abortion and was surprised to hear she was still struggling after 18 years! This is a perfect example of the negative impact that abortion can have on a life and why healing is so necessary. Her PCS provided information about PACE and recommended that she attend a Forgiven and Set Free (FSF) Bible study. Her ultrasound that day was inconclusive and her second ultrasound it was evident that she would probably miscarry. A couple of weeks later the PCS reached out to Cindy and she confirmed that she had a miscarriage. After speaking with Stephanie Noriaga, she decided to participate in the FSF 10-week Bible study. Cindy experienced much healing, she attended the From Grief to Gladness Retreat that just took place April 19 -21. It was amazing to see the progress she has made!
*not her real name
Cultivate
When Devon first spoke with Fae*, she was not interested in taking a parenting class. She has been a good parent to her four children for nine years. What more could she learn? She somewhat reluctantly agreed to join CAPS’ Cultivate program because she really needed diapers for her daughter and clothing for her baby boy that was due in March. Her husband recently moved out of their home and her finances were really tight.
After completing her first educational unit on Building Character, Fae’s perspective on the program changed! While she watch watching the video classes one evening, her sons were curious and started watching the videos with her. She shared that they had some good discussions about honesty and courage. Fae’s second educational unit was Words Matter, encouraging parents to use praise and be mindful of their tone. Raised by a single immigrant mother, Fae was not raised in a home that was emotionally expressive or allowed children to express their emotions. She knew she wanted to parent in a different way that was more in tune with her children, but didn’t know how. Fae met with her mentor who provided suggestions of how to acknowledge her children’s feelings and encourage them to express their emotions in appropriate ways. After each educational unit, Fae was always excited to share what she learned and even laughed at herself for being hesitant to enroll in the Cultivate program. She really enjoyed having a space to talk about parenting as she wasn’t having those conversations with her friends or family.
Fae completed her six educational units that were individualized to her needs, her children’s ages and goals. After completing each unit, she earned much needed items such as clothing for her daughter and her soon-to-arrive son, a bassinet, a double stroller and lots of diapers. These items are valued at $850, including the $100 gift certificate to a local baby resale shop she earned for graduating from the program. Fae is the second graduate of our Cultivate program.
*not her real name
There are currently:
- 9 women involved with Cultivate
- 4 of those women joined in April
- 2 graduates (completed six educational units)
Baby Basket Update
In every change, in every falling leaf
there is some pain, some beauty.
That is the way new leaves grow.
We want to be more purposeful to re-engage our patients whose pregnancies were unplanned, in challenging circumstances, or those patients need more support to parent well. Not only do we want to save a life by seeing that mother carry her pregnancy, but we want to see that life thrive after it leaves the womb. This requires shifting how we use our resources. And there can be some sadness with this change, as we may not see as many moms bringing their babies into the clinic. We are at CAPS because we value life and believe that people are valuable.
In May, we will be only offering Baby Baskets to our higher needs patients when they are 7 months pregnant. We want to welcome them back to our clinic, encourage their journey to parenthood, and provide some of the baby items they will need. When the patient comes to the clinic to pick up their basket, they will complete a simple survey on their readiness to welcome their baby, their desire to learn parenting and life skills, and their interest in participating in the Cultivate program. The survey results are sent directly to our Social Worker, who will follow up with the interested patients. Soon we will be adding a new resource flier to the Baby Baskets, such as WIC, childcare, diaper banks, etc. Please pray that we will reconnect with the patients who need it!
For the patients who were not referred to the social worker and do not qualify for a Baby Basket, PCS can offer for the patient to pick up diapers at the clinic of their choice when they reach out after their due date.