Community Highlight: Shared Pregnancy Women's Center
Podcast Transcription
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Maddy: Hi everyone. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of PFCU’s Money Talk, I’m your host, Maddy. For this episode, I sat down with Trisha Peuse, the Executive Director at Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center. Trisha shares the different facets of the organization including their Learn and Earn Program, free services they provide for expecting mothers and the fundraising efforts to continue being a resource in the community. Trisha and her team of both staff and volunteers are so clearly filled with a passion for the work that they do and I hope you enjoy learning more about Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center. Here is Trisha.
Trisha: My name is Trisha Peuse and I am the Executive Director at Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center. We’re also know as SP Women’s Center to our clients so you’ll see that on our building. Shared Pregnancy has actually been around for 40 years, this is our 40th year, believe it or not.
Maddy: Wow!
Trisha: Which is really great.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: Yeah, I know. A lot of people don’t know who we are so thank you for having me on here so we can spread the word a little bit more. And I’ve been the director here since January of 2020. So, I had a good month or two before the world went crazy with COVID so, and it’s just been wonderful. I just, I just love it here. I love working here, we have the most amazing staff and volunteers and just the girls that come in, we just love them like family so. I am a mom to four kids, ages 15 down to 8 and I love being a mom and it keeps me busy though between working and being a mom but that’s a good thing. I think that’s where I’m supposed to be, I know this is where I’m supposed to be, so. Shared Pregnancy, a little information about who we are, we’ve been here like I said for 40 years, our program is completely based on donor funding, we don’t have any government funding or anything so it’s all from private donors, groups churches, whichever groups or individuals decide to donate to us and that’s awesome. Our program can kind of be split into two different areas, the first one is our ultrasound program. We offer free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds to women who are often like on their own or don’t have family to support them or they just need help. So, they come here, everything we do here is completely free, we don’t charge for anything. So free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds. And then we have an obstetrician that oversees our ultrasound program, we also have an RN on staff in the building. We also, all of our sonographers that we have are RDMS certified so they either work at OB clinics around the area or at the hospital. So, we have some great professionals that work here, that are just awesome caring people. So, that’s kind of what we do on that side and then we, I just feel really fortunate, I get to often be the one that sits right next to them and sometimes hold their hand if they want me to when they meet their baby for the first time which is really, really cool.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: I just love my job. It’s so, so much fun and it’s, it’s wonderful. And then from there we have our learn and earn program and we have everything in this building so if you ever want to come check us out, I’d love to show you around because it’s like a baby store upstairs and it’s really, really cool. It’s everything you could possibly need for a baby from diapers to wipes to thermometers to baby wash to cribs, all the way to cribs or changing tables. Car seats, we have a car seat program too that they can come and get the car seat installed safely and correctly but everything we have is donated by the community. So, they’re either gathered by groups or you know, some of us whose babies have kind of moved out of the baby phase, they can donate either new or clean, good baby items such as strollers and car seats and clothing. We get tons of clothing from moms who their kids have just moved out of those sizes so, and then, we take all that stuff in and we have a huge group of awesome volunteers that sorts all the clothing and makes sure that it is clean and they organize it by size and season and yeah, we just have an awesome group of people that work together. And then, all that to say, our mission is to walk alongside women through their pregnancy and this new building we’re in, we can serve them up until their child’s 4th birthday so we can walk with them through that first birthday, through those first steps and up until they go to school for the first time, so.
Maddy: Wow.
Trisha: That’s kind of what we do. We’ve kind of become family here.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: We’ve definitely become family.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: Yeah.
Maddy: Good! So, you had mentioned, was it learn and earn? Could you speak to that program a little bit more and what that all entails?
Trisha: Sure, sure. So, there’s a couple different options. So, they can earn points and exchange them for baby items, okay. That’s not, we give them emergency items all the time. It’s very easy to get points. But it’s a really cool way to get a really good, solid parenting education and then earn stuff for their family and their babies. So, we have a topical class once a week and that’s professionals from the community come in and teach on something like labor and delivery or car seat safety or nutrition or we’ll have early head start come talk about getting them ready for school or whatever it may be. It’s something new every single week. And then we also have a shared group class and that’s led by one of our staff and then she just goes through and they just talk about life and what’s going on in life. And that is a time where they can have prayer requests if they have them and they often do and it’s just a great time of coming together and the woman that does that is kind of a grandma to them which is a really neat relationship. And then we also have a dad’s class that happens. We’re always looking for, to get the guys involved which is kind of neat. We also have a play group, so that’s a different day and they can come and bring their kids and we just really focus on getting on the floor, playing with the kids, we do a craft together, we sing, it’s just tons of fun. I love those days because our building is just like, it’s constant laughter and noise.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: It just makes my heart so happy. So, by going to those classes, oh and another thing they can do if they can’t make those classes, they can come in and watch parenting videos. We have some up-to-date, great videos that we can stream that they can watch and just exchange those for points to get baby stuff.
Maddy: Yeah, that’s really cool that you kind of combined them getting the things that they need with also learning because no matter what situation you’re in, becoming a mom is hard and we’re all just kind of flying by the seat of our pants and you don’t really know what you’re getting into until you’re in it so I think that’s awesome that you’re providing that education, as well.
Trisha: Well, thanks.
Maddy: And for the dads too, I think that’s great.
Trisha: yeah, well and a big thing for us, we try to really focus on community too because I know as a mom and I stayed home with my kids for many, many years, it’s very lonely, it can be very lonely and just bringing moms together to just share what’s going on in their lives and have some coffee together.
Maddy: Yeah.
Trisha: Laugh and just have fun is what we love to do too.
Maddy: Yeah, that makes a big difference for sure.
Trisha: Yeah.
Maddy: You had briefly mentioned, a little bit earlier about volunteers coming in to sort clothing. Could you speak a little bit more to volunteer opportunities at Shared Pregnancy?
Trisha: Sure, sure. So, most of our volunteers do work upstairs so we’re in an old house and our upstairs is kind of the baby area. So, it’s really, really cool, like I said you’ve got to come check it out some time. They’ve set it up so beautifully. But we get all the clothing and the items that are donated, we bring them upstairs and there’s a big area, when the volunteers come, they sort through them. So, we need lots of volunteers to sort through clothes, make sure they’re clean and good for our clients. There also can be opportunity to answer phones or just kind of welcome people at the front desk. And then there’s always seasonal things, like we always need spring clean-up, we always need fall clean-up. I had mentioned earlier that we had some water in our basement, we needed… we’re always looking for a group of people that we can call in an emergency, like, we need to get all of this stuff out of the basement now. So, you know, anybody that can get on a list like that can help us in those instances or you know, we’re repainting down there now. So, we’re always looking for people to add to those lists too that can just help us on a time-to-time or a regular basis.
Maddy: Okay. And what about donating? Do you accept, I know you said you accept donations of clothing and things like that, what about monetary donations or any other items that you guys accept?
Trisha: Absolutely, yes. We’re always looking, we’re always thankful for any monetary donations. And I just wanted to thank PFCU for the awesome donation from your staff nominating us for that, that’s huge for us because like I said, we’re fully funded by the community and I just from the bottom of my heart and from Shared Pregnancy, thank you very much. So yes, absolutely. You can walk in any time if you want to drop off a donation or you can mail it to us. Our address is 831 N Washington, we’re in Lansing, 48906. But like I said, you’re always welcome to stop by and check out what we do.
Maddy: Good, good. What about any fundraising? Do you have, like events, fundraising events every year that people can check out?
Trisha: We do, we do. We have, so, every spring in April, we have a silent auction and that’s usually held at the Grand Ledge Opera House. And this is our big family fun event, it’s typically at the end of April and we have really cool things to bid on, it’s also, we have stuff for the kids so games and crafts and A&W usually comes and they bring root beer floats.
Maddy: Cool.
Trisha: We get them all sugared up and we just have lots of fun and it’s just a good time for us to meet with our donors and supporters and just have a good, fun time. In the past, in the fall, we’ve had a golf event but since COVID, it just has not worked out. So, what we have planned for 2023 is actually a comedy night. So, that is going to be scheduled for October of 2023 and that’s going to be more of an adult fun. It’s going to be clean comedy, obviously but it’s going to be a fun night, just, we’re trying something new this year and we’re really excited about it, so.
Maddy: Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ve never heard of someone putting on a comedy night for fundraising, I think that’s a great idea.
Trisha: Yeah.
Maddy: I’ll have to check it out when next year rolls around.
Trisha: Yes, please!
Maddy: Alright, so you said you’re in Lansing. Can anyone utilize their services if they need to, no matter where they’re coming from?
Trisha: Absolutely. There’re no income requirements, there’s no requirements whatsoever. Anybody can come to us and just stop by.
Maddy: Perfect.
Trisha: Yup.
Maddy: And what about contact information? I know I was checking out your website and I saw that you also have a Facebook page, could you speak that a little bit more?
Trisha: Sure. So, we have a coupe Facebook pages. Our supporter’s website and Facebook is SharedPregnancy.org. Our clients know us as SP Women’s Center so, if there’s anybody out there that needs some pregnancy help, look us up at SP Women’s Center on Facebook and for our website. We’re also on Instagram, same names for both of those, yeah, they’re a great way to keep up with us.
Maddy: Yeah, awesome. Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Trisha: We just, we have a big year. We’ve got some big growth and I just, I’m just thankful for your support and yeah, just thinking of us and inviting me to do this, I appreciate it so much in getting the word out that Shared Pregnancy is out there. I appreciate it, thank you.
Maddy: Of course. Thanks for being on, I appreciate it. I’m glad we can help get the word out a little bit. And I do appreciate your time.
Trisha: Thank you so much.
Maddy: You’re welcome.
Thank you again Trisha for taking the time to chat with me about Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center. I learned a lot and I hope everyone listening did too. If you are interested in checking them out a little more, you can find them on their website, Facebook or Instagram. As Trisha stated they can be found under two names- Shared Pregnancy for those that would like to support and SP Women’s Center for those that utilize or are looking for some pregnancy help. They are located at 831 N Washington Ave, Lansing, 48906. Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time!
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