Rotarians hear about G.R.A.C.E. Pregnancy Outreach

By Emily Banks Wooten
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Misty NettlesMisty Nettles, executive director of G.R.A.C.E. Pregnancy Outreach Inc., recently presented a program for the Rotary Club of Livingston.

G.R.A.C.E. Pregnancy Outreach Inc. opened in 2017 and a is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides pregnancy testing, prenatal services and parenting classes. The services are provided free of charge to the community by the support of donors. G.R.A.C.E. Pregnancy Outreach Inc. provides a place where individuals can find compassion and help without judgment or condemnation and client advocates are committed to offering emotional support and personal concern.

Located at 414 S. Washington Ave. in Livingston, Nettles said the outreach center is open three days a week – Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays – and offers classes on newborn care, parenting, potty training, lactation and preventing child sex abuse. She said services are free from conception to three years old.

“Our goal is to enhance the lives of the women and children in our community. We want to reassure them and help them however we can. We do a lot of loving on people,” Nettles said. “There is no application or approval process and our doors are open to anyone who is pregnant or has a baby that is under three years old.”

Nettles said that a number of services the center provides are incentivized for the clients to earn points and that the points may be used to get things such as diapers, wipes, car seats, cribs and bassinets.

Related Articles

ROTARIANS STAYING BUSY

The outreach center recently participated in a program through the Texas Department of Transportation in which 18 car seats for children from infancy to eight years old were give out.

Nettles said that most of their funding comes from private donations, although they do receive a reimbursement through the State of Texas through the Thriving Texas Families Act.

The outreach center has a paid staff of four “with a lot of volunteers,” Nettles said.

She said the demographic of the current clients is age 14 to 41 or 42 and that the majority are mid-20s to early-30s.

“Last year we had over 1,200 client visits. We have served seven counties and 90 clients in just the first two months of this year,” she said.

To learn more about G.R.A.C.E. Pregnancy Outreach Inc., go to gracepo.com.