GMC Open House on 2/2

On Saturday, February 2nd from Noon to 4 pm we'll be holding an Open House at the Gerhardt Ministry Center (906-918 N. Goodman St. next door to Joy Community Church). Our satellite medical office (Joy Family Medicine) and crisis pregnancy care center (Embracing Options) will be open as well as a food pantry (the Hope Shop) next door. Staff will be there to show you the facilities and answer any questions you may have. Refreshments will be served. Come and bring your friends and neighbors!

SOHL Day of Prayer

Embracing Options will be hosting its 2nd Annual SOHL (Sanctity of Human Life) Day of Prayer on Friday, January 18th, from noon to 5 pm in our conference room at 350 Arnett Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14619. Light refreshments and coffee will be provided.

Invited: All Pro-Lifers in the Rochester area who either stand on the front lines daily against abortion or if you have a heart for the sanctity of human life. We ask Pastors to come pray with and over us to bless us for the upcoming year of this battle against abortion and its ravages on our community. Contact Sandi Clawson at: (525) 235-0690 if you'd like to attend or share a brief message of encouragement for all the staff and volunteers in the local pro-life community.

Embracing Options Banquet

Embracing Options of His Branches, Inc.

cordially extends an invitation to our
first Annual Fundraising Banquet

Please join us for an evening
of food, fellowship and
celebration of our Lord's guidance
and provision over the past year.

Thursday evening, October 11th, 2007 at

New Life Fellowship
330 Wellington Avenue
Rochester, NY 14619

Dinner & program with special guest speaker:

Pastor Mark Mills
from Glory to Glory Fellowship

from 6:00 pm 'til 8:00 pm

Tickets are $35. RSVP by October 6th
to Sandi Clawson

Leo Holmsten Award

This year's Leo Holmsten Human Life Award will be presented to Jann Armantrout at at gala community banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 125 E. Main St., Rochester on Friday evening, September 21, 2007. Jann is Life Issues Coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, co-founder and Vice President of Adult Stem Cell Initiative, Inc., and a frequent speaker-debater-writer on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. His Branches will be having a table and hosting an exhibit with Embracing Options. Want to join us at this wonderful event? Just contact Elaine at 235-9000 to reserve a seat at our table!

Schedule:
6:00 pm - Reception & Co-Sponsor Exhibits
6:45 pm - Dinner (very elegant)
COST: $40/person — Tables of 8
Please RSVP by September 12

For more information
Click here for a flyer.
Phone: Diann (585/381-5605) or Cathy (585/381-4927)
Web: www.lhhl.org
E-mail: dhayes13@rochester.rr.com

EO reaches out to NE

Plans are well underway for Embracing Options to open a new office in Rochester's NE side! For over a year, EO has been forging a strategic alliance with Joy Community Church with committed volunteers, training, and fund-raising. Now a full office suite has been set aside in the new Gerhardt Ministry Center (GMC) on the corner of Bay and Goodman Streets for a second EO office. The hitch? The space needs major renovations. Thursday evening and Saturday work sessions are being organized to rehab the facility. The new satellite's director, Kirsten Smith, hopes to begin offering services to the NE community early this fall, working in close conjuction with staff in the GMC Hope Shop and Ali Reeves, PA, in our new medical office when they open downstairs. Troublingly high rates of abortion and sexually-transmitted illnesses indicate that the need is great. If you would like to help, please contact Sandi Clawson at 235-0690.

Crisis Pregnancy Hotline

Embracing Options has been open for over a year now and is growing by leaps and bounds! Each month through our Hotline at 235-0690 we see more and more young women in need. Our Director, Sandi Clawson, is connecting with local churches and social programs to raise awareness and support for what we're doing in the neighborhood. We're very excited about the enthusiasm that's been evident in the community. We've submitted our application for an ultrasound machine though Focus on the Family Option Ultrasound, and in the meantime we've been the temporary recipients of a donated ultrasound machine that we're using to train volunteers.

If you have interest in this area or want to help us financially, please contact us or you can even donate online! Give us a call at 235-0690 as soon as possible to discuss your interests!

Embracing Options

Please welcome our newest program, Embracing Options, an urban crisis pregnancy center we're developing under the sponsorship of Care Net! We previously reported our plans to you when we were calling our new project the Pregnancy Care Center of Rochester. However, after much prayer and sharing with some young people in one of the programs here in the city, we've decided to change the official name to one that is more "user friendly" in our neighborhood. We believe that a major part of reaching women with crisis pregnancies in our community is to allow them to see that they have options (other than abortion!) and that not only can they embrace those options but they can be embraced at the same time. Safety, trust, and love are so important to a young woman in times like these. Certainly, carrying a pregnancy to term also allows for the first embrace of a newborn child that is an experience unlike any other!

Embracing Options is now officially open for business. If someone is in need of counseling, we are accepting clients and referrals (call 585-235-0690). Our Director, Sandra Clawson is working very hard to connect with local churches and social programs not only to raise awareness but also support for what we're doing in the neighborhood. We're very excited about an invitation-only outreach to interested supporters that is occurring on April 7, 8 and 9. We're also excited about the enthusiasm that has been evident with people we talk to from around the community. We've submitted our application for an ultrasound machine though Focus on the Family Option Ultrasound, and in the meantime we've been the temporary recipients of a donated ultrasound machine that we're using to train volunteers.

If you have interest in this area or want to help us financially, please contact us or you can even donate online! Give us a call as soon as possible to discuss your interests (235-0690)!

New Pregnancy Care Center

On December 3, 2004, 30 potential volunteers gathered in the conference room at His Branches to discuss the possibilities of joining in the effort to establish the new PCC. We were overwhelmed by the response and are thrilled with the level of interest and passion for this issue. In January we will hold our very first training for the new PCC in which anyone interested in volunteering as a counselor will be able to receive formalized training through the help and leadership of Dee Skelton and the Palmyra Care Net office. Dates for the training are as follows:

January 8, 15, 22, 29 (Saturdays) and all times are 12-4 pm. The location will be at His Branches unless otherwise noted.

Other training dates are already being discussed so stay in touch if you miss the first one. Please call 235-9000 with any questions and we look forward to hearing from all of you!

The disturbing reality that is driving our passion is that 1 in 2.5 reported pregnancies (388 reported) in the zip code 14619 (our zip code!) ends in abortion. That's nearly 50%! The number is staggering and the surrounding zip codes are not much better. As an organization that stands for pro-life, represents Christ in our community, and has the experience and ability to address this issue with medically sound services and advice, we want to make a difference. The larger dream is to grow into a comprehensive service that addresses the needs of families, adults and children in a program that is an alternative to the leading abortion providers in the region. This will include the counseling and support services that have been in plan for several months now and will also rely on a growing network of strong and supportive ministries in the neighborhood. With the trainings in January, we expect to be available for service in February with a plan to ramp up for a July hiring of our first paid staff.