Imagine that you’re a 19-year-old girl. You wake up one morning and take a pregnancy test and find out you’re pregnant. What’s the first thing you’re going to do? This was the initial question posed to me by Laura Messick, executive director of a local facility that assists pregnant women.
My response was, “This is post-freakout, right?” And that is frequently the reality. With the invention of birth control, premarital sex has played a much different role in society. As a result, pregnant women, who once more often had the stability and financial support of a spouse, are now facing overwhelming options and a sometimes harsher reality.
Helping support pregnant women of all ages in Murfreesboro is a nonprofit organization called Portico. It’s a simple name, for a simple place with a simple mission. It’s all about the love. As Messick explained, most women don’t want to be judged or pressured into choices. What they respond to is an environment where they can feel safe and have the facts presented to them without manipulation or ulterior motives. Portico’s foundational principles are aligned with this idea. Speaking the truth in love; and to minister, not manipulate, are the mantras that the organization lives by.
Laura Messick
Since it is a faith-based organization, I inquired if the beliefs of the company were a requirement of the assistance. The answer was, not at all. Messick made it a point to relay that Portico does not proselytize. She added, “It’s not a condition to being served at Portico, or to be treated kindly or with respect. We’re going to treat everybody that walks through that door with kindness and love, because that’s who we are because of what we believe.” In other words, the buck stops here.
Speaking of bucks, there are no fees whatsoever. All visits and services are absolutely free of charge. Running solely on donations, this place still manages to show love in a number of financial ways. In addition to not charging for any of the services they provide, such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, support and education, there is also a reward system in place for mothers-to-be (and fathers-to-be) in which participation in video-driven educational classes results in the acquisition of baby products.
Being able to provide for a newborn baby can be a daunting task. That’s why Portico has created an Earn While You Learn program, which educates parents-to-be on different aspects of parenthood while concurrently accumulating Baby Bucks that can be used to purchase necessities for the baby-to-be in a Baby Boutique. All goals are easily achievable and designed to help the recipients experience the satisfaction that comes from providing for your child. In addition, all active participants receive a free gift basket with some necessities for their newborn, and all active participants who continue through the program receive a brand-new baby bed. The boutique also supplies maternity clothes.
Portico doesn’t smooth over uncomfortable topics. While they acknowledge that any choice a woman makes will have its share of hardships, they also present all information to expectant mothers according to accurate medical information on all fronts, from abortion to adoption and parenting. Their goal is to educate, inform, affirm, and support these young ladies in making a tough decision that will impact their lives regardless of which path they take. Portico feels that it is wise to present all choices in an honest and open environment, providing the love and continuing support that the parents need.
Messick openly admits that they are pro-life, and wishes all mothers to choose life, but she realizes that not all mothers will make this choice, and she doesn’t want any woman to hesitate coming to the center because of it. Another service that they offer is post-abortion counseling for any woman who, after the facts have been presented to her in an honest light, still makes that decision. The staff at Portico is also filled with mothers who have been in similar situations and can, and do, empathize with their clients. The staff says they aim to provide love, warmth, genuineness and understanding, and a place where no one judges.
Portico is a place where a woman can go and talk to someone about her fears, her frustrations and her options.
“We give her a lot of information. She needs to know what abortion is. She needs to know what parenting looks like, and what adoption is; all those truths about those choices. So, we hope that she will intersect with us at a time in her life when she’s got something really difficult happening in her story,” Messick summarizes.
Fittingly, the Portico tagline is “Every Story Matters,” and I sense that is what they truly believe.
For more information on Portico, visit porticostory.org or call 615-893-0228 to set up an appointment.
