A new facility has opened in Airdrie for local women who need pregnancy guidance and support.

The Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre has been operating since 1985, offering free and confidential peer counselling to listen and discuss pregnancy options in a caring and respectful environment.

Now, after years of planning and months of hard work, the Airdrie Pregnancy Care Centre has opened, located at 204 1st Avenue N.E.

“We are very excited to be in a position to extend our support for those women and families in the Airdrie area,” says Jutta Wittmeier, Executive Director for the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre. “Thanks to the support of our generous donors and volunteers, the Airdrie Pregnancy Care Centre will provide a safe place where those facing pregnancy-related decisions or challenges can find support, connection and educational help no matter their situation.”

According to a news release, the new Airdrie facility will provide support, classes and practical services that will make it easier to navigate an unplanned pregnancy.

Wittmeier says they are still working out exactly what services will be offered in Airdrie, as they don't want to dublicate any services already offered here.

"We're going to see what the need is, what the gaps are in services that we can fill. But basically we're here to care for anyone who finds themselves in difficult situations because of a pregnancy," says Wittmeier, adding the goal is to provide a safe place for people to talk about what's going on in their lives.

The Pregnancy Care Centre aims to either provide services needed or help connect clients to other services in the community.

Wittmeier says they had been looking to expand into the northern part of Calgary for some time, but decided on Airdrie due to the rapid growth of the community and the need here.

"There is a barrier with transporation obviously," says Wittmeier. "We've seen clients from Airdrie quite often, but it's hard for them to get to Calgary. Especially for things like classes, if you're coming in once a week and having to make that trip, it is difficult. So we wanted to be more accessible in one of the fast growing communities, it only makes sense."

Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown was on hand for the grand opening celebrations and performed the official ribbon cutting for the Airdrie Pregnancy Care Centre and says he's thrilled they chose to open in the community.

"We have some amazing resources and even better, amazing people working at those resources, so it's awesome to provide that opportunity for community members, not only in Airdrie. We service quite a large surrounding area as everybody knows, so Didsbury, Crossfield, Carstairs, and Rocky View County. There's a lot of people that are in need, that need the excellence and the support," says Brown.

"You always wish that you never have these situations, but we do and we have the resources to support those individuals and those families, and that's the best thing about our community," Brown says.

Two local women, Linda Ray and Karen Kalinka, will job share the management of the Airdrie Pregnancy Care Centre and Wittmeier says dozens of local people came out to a recent volunteer orientation for the facility.

The Pregnancy Care Centre is fully donor supported and relies strongly on volunteers to operate.

More details can be found on the Calgary Pregnancy Care website.

Read more:

Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre opening new location in Airdrie

 

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