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| SEPTEMBER 2006: |
Los Angeles Pregnancy Services (LAPS) is a crisis pregnancy help center that opened its doors in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles in May of 2000. LAPS is an affiliate of International Life Services, an organization founded by Sister Paula Vandegaer. We serve a primarily immigrant and poverty-stricken community in a neighborhood that has no less than seven abortion facilities within a one mile radius. It is not uncommon to find heavy promotion for abortion services via radio, billboards, television, free TV guides and flyers handed out at street corners.
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Our mission is to provide the caring support that a woman in a crisis pregnancy needs so that she may choose life for her unborn baby.
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Our mission is to provide the caring support that a woman in a crisis pregnancy needs so that she may choose life for her unborn baby. We are primarily a counseling and resource center for pregnant women who lack support from their families and communities. Our trained peer counselors - many of them bilingual - are ready to walk with these women through this difficult period in their lives, assisting them emotionally and materially with referrals to many services in our communities (housing, medical services, educational and employment resources, etc.) as well as providing material assistance once their babies are born: diapers, baby clothes and furniture, baby food, and more. Apart from helping people at the center we also do outreach to countless other people at the local churches, schools and health fairs, educating them on the life issues and the life-affirming services and volunteering opportunities we provide.
LAPS volunteers strive to keep a hopeful and positive attitude while facing a great amount of opposition and obstacles in our area. Faith in God carries us through difficult times and financial hardship because this is His endeavor and all of our efforts are for His glory. We are encouraged every day by the strength and courage that we see in those we serve. There have been dozens of babies saved in the last few months, many of them largely because someone was there to listen and to educate these mothers in the facts of life: showing them what abortion really does to the baby and to the mother, how miraculous every baby is even in the early stages of life, and the resources available to assist them in their time of need. Many women are brought over to our center by the prayer warriors outside of the seven abortion facilities in our neighborhood. Also, several people have contacted us because they thought we might provide referrals to abortion and instead ended up learning the truth about abortion and choosing life for their babies. Praise God!
We have two primary needs. We are looking for volunteers who are committed wholeheartedly to the pro-life cause and truly feel called by God to provide direct support to women in crisis pregnancies. We are looking for help in all areas: counseling, public speaking, administrative, fund-raising/grant-writing, public relations, etc, We are also in urgent need of funds to keep the center open and well-equipped. The local churches and parishioners are also poor and rely on us for much needed services.
One day we hope to have an ultrasound machine. This is a first step into becoming an actual clinic that can provide medical services for women and their children. Having pro-life doctors and nurses working at LAPS would truly be a dream come true. So many women could be dissuaded from having an abortion by allowing them to view their little one in the womb! We would also like to have the funds to be able to provide an effective outreach in our neighborhood via billboards, newspapers, radio spots and TV ads.
Los Angeles Pregnancy Services
2524 W. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057
Phone: 213-382-5643
Fax: 213-382-5645
Email: LAPSCPC@aol.com
Website: www.lapsforlife.org
Contact: Astrid Bennett Gutierrez, board member/counselor
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