MAY 13, 2015
Hope Women’s Center celebrates 30 years of helping women in need and partners with foster care initiatives to launch the hope initiative for healthy families
PHOENIX – In 1984, Hope Women’s Center was founded as a small rural crisis pregnancy center in Apache Junction. Over the years, the Center has grown to serve thousands of at-risk women and adolescent girls and has expanded its vision to meet the evolving needs of the communities in which it operates. This year, Hope Women’s Center is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The heart of the Center’s mission is to equip vulnerable women and girls facing a variety of crisis situations, including poverty, abuse, and unplanned pregnancy, with the tools needed to transform their lives. By addressing each client’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, Hope Women’s Center strives to help women discover their true self-worth and establish a foundation for building healthy relationships. The Center provides a range of free services, such as one-on-one mentoring, support groups, life skills and other educational classes, as well as material support. Women are rewarded for participating in the programs with “client cash” or points that they may use to obtain needed resources.
Shane Wikfors, one of Hope Women’s Center Board Members had this to say about the Center, "I first fell in love with Hope Women's Center almost a decade ago when I walked into the center and felt an overwhelming sense of welcome and security. Since then this ministry has grown in several communities as a place where women can go to find critical help, find themselves and even help other women restore their lives. Hope Women's Center has become one of the most effective non-profit faith-based organizations in Arizona's most critical need communities and I'm humbled to be a part of it."
In 2013, Hope Women’s Center opened additional locations in Coolidge and Phoenix in order to engage with at-risk women in those communities. Between the three locations, the Center serves an average of 200 clients per month. Tammy Abernethy, Executive Director, had this to say about this wonderful program, "At Hope Women's Center, we get the privilege of coming alongside hurting women and teen girls, loving them right where they are, and helping them find healing and hope for their future. More than just helping them through an immediate crisis, we seek to build long term relationships, connect them to support communities, and empower them with the tools they need to make positive life changes."
In an effort to expand its ministry to a greater number of women and families in need, Hope Women’s Center recently partnered with Foster Care Initiatives to launch The Hope Initiative for Healthy Families. Foster Care Initiatives seeks to provide holistic support, authentic relationships, and advocacy to Arizona’s vulnerable children and helps distressed families flourish. The Hope Initiative for Healthy Families is available to clients who are currently involved with the Department of Child Safety or are at risk of DCS intervention. Clients must voluntarily enroll in the program, be approved through the intake process, and be able to participate in a Holistic Parenting Class and case management. Through the Hope Initiative for Healthy Families, women will be partnered with case managers and family coaches, and will also have the option to work with a Community Family Support Team of three or four trained volunteers. Case managers work with clients to develop their strength-based goals, connect families with needed resources, and if applicable, help them navigate the child welfare system. Family coaches meet with clients in their homes to provide support and equip them with the tools necessary to overcome trauma and loss, while the Community Family Support Teams assist with needs such as transportation to court and long-term companionship for women, even when they are no longer part of the program.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Hope Women’s Center relies on the support of civic groups, schools, businesses, small foundations, churches, and individuals. The Center recently hosted “Thunder of Hope,” its first annual motorcycle ride to raise funds for the women it serves and their families.
As Hope Women’s Center reflects on the thousands of lives that it has helped to change for the better over the past three decades, its members look forward to serving women in need for the next 30 years and beyond.
Hope Women’s Center is a Christian non-profit organization that has served vulnerable women and teen girls in Arizona for over 30 years. Thousands of women, teens and their families have received free services and care through our education, mentoring, pregnancy support and material resource programs. The Center’s mission is to engage, encourage, and equip women and girls facing crisis situations by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
