It is a phone call that will not soon be forgotten.  

PCC Project Manager, Cheri Gamble, was at the reception desk when the call came.  A woman had contacted the Care-Net Pregnancy hot-line, and they were connecting her to the closest Pregnancy Center – which was the Pregnancy Care Center in Niles. 

As Cheri talked with the caller, she realized that this was a crisis situation. “The woman on the phone was talking about how she already had several children, she had health issues and she was now pregnant again.

She didn’t know how she could take care of this baby without support. She told me she was thinking of having an abortion.” 

Cheri talked with the caller, assuring her that there was support available and that the Pregnancy Care Center could help her find this support. “I asked her if she would be willing to come in and talk to us in person, and she seemed very open to that possibility. And then I asked her where she lived.”  

Her answer? Benton Harbor. 

“When I heard her say ‘Benton Harbor,’ the first thing I thought was, ‘If only our Benton Harbor location was open!’ I knew it would be difficult to get her to come in for an appointment in Niles – especially with her circumstances.” 

Nevertheless, Cheri scheduled an appointment for her, hoping and praying that she would show up. 

She never came.

“I think about that call often,” says Cheri, “I can’t help but feel that if we had been open in Benton Harbor, she might be a regular client now.  I also wonder how many more people are out there just like her – people who need the support that we can offer but they can’t make it in to Niles. We need to get to them as soon as we can!” 

“As soon as we can” could be by the end of August.  

Says Cheri, “Renovation plans have been written and approved and the workers are ready to go. All we are waiting for is the rest of the money to come in. Our leadership has said we need 90% of the funding in place before we can start renovations and we are currently at 59%! That’s really close! If we all work together, I know we can get the money in so that we can open this fall!”     

PCC Bookkeeper, Tammi Umbenhaur, shares the excitement of seeing the goal within reach. Says Tammi, “We are only 31% away from being able to start our renovations in Benton Harbor. That’s only $7000, guys!”