After more than 40 years serving
pregnant women in need, Birthright of Manassas is closing its doors at the end
of February.
The pregnancy resource center began as
an offshoot of the Birthright of Woodbridge in the late 1970s. Since then, an
all-volunteer team has provided free pregnancy tests, maternity and infant
clothes, and lots of encouragement to expectant mothers in the area.
Though they’ve had several locations
over the years, their current office off Sudley Road has been home the longest.
On the walls of the cozily decorated space hang homey wallpaper, framed
pictures of gestational development and racks of clothing. Children’s toys and
comfy chairs are in the waiting room. And in a few weeks, most everything in
the office will go to the other Birthright locations in Woodbridge,
Fredericksburg and Leesburg.
In the early days, Birthright Director
Kathy Madsen and former Director Florence Heishman recall that most of their
clientele were unwed teenagers looking for pregnancy tests before the days they
could be bought easily at the pharmacy. Now, it’s mostly immigrant women who
already have children and are oftentimes married, said Madsen, a parishioner of
Sacred Heart Church in Manassas. But even they’ve mostly dropped off. It’s one
of the things contributing to the close.
“We don’t feel that we should continue
to take donations that might be taking away from another organization if people
are going there,” said Madsen. She cited groups such as Gabriel Project, Mother
of Mercy Free Medical Clinic and First Care Women’s Health that will continue
to serve Manassas women in Birthright’s absence.
She also wanted to be fair to the
volunteers who come to the office and end up with very few women to serve. “I
was thinking about retiring and no one was willing to step forward, so it was
like the perfect storm,” said Madsen. “I’m sure we are doing the right thing.”
Though their chapter is closing, the two
women look back with a lot of gratitude for the faithful donors and the amazing
volunteers, including one woman who founded a Birthright in Ivory Coast, her
native country. They’re especially grateful to the George Brent Knights of
Columbus Council of All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas, which pledged early
on to financially support Birthright.
The support of so many people allowed
them to fulfill Birthright’s mission — to serve pregnant women in need. Though
they don’t always know the impact they made, they treasure the women and
children they helped.
“You learn so much from (the clients),”
said Heishman, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville. “They have
so much courage. There’s been times where I’ve listened to them talking and I’ve
tried to keep the tears back.”
Madsen remembers one time when a pregnant
teenager came to Birthright. They offered to help her tell her mother about the
pregnancy, but she refused, saying her mother would be furious. The volunteer wasn’t
able to reach the teen for months when the office received a call from her. The
teenager had hidden the pregnancy and now was giving birth on her bathroom
floor. The Birthright volunteers called an ambulance and then went to the
hospital to see the teenager and her newborn baby. “They were worried because
they didn’t know what attitude the (teenager’s) mother was going to have about
this. But as they walked up, they saw her cradling this grandchild so they knew
it would be OK.”
Heishman recalls counseling a pregnant inmate
at the Prince William County jail. Her baby boy had to be treated at birth for
complications related to his mother’s drug addiction, but he recovered and went
to live with his father. Sadly, when he was 9 years old, he died from leukemia.
His funeral was standing room only. Though his story ended tragically, it’s
still one of Heishman’s most special memories, a reminder that all life
matters, even when it’s brief.
“Everybody loved him, he was such a
sweet little guy (and) you don’t know how many people he reached,” she said.
Both women say they feel privileged to
have served throughout the years. Heishman believes working at Birthright was
part of God’s plan for her life. “I’m 72 and some people by the time they’re
this age, they haven't found their place and what they were supposed to do. I
know that I did find my place,” she said. “Being a mother and taking care of
the girls.”