Sav-A-Life Counselors

Sav-A-Life volunteer counselors consist of forty volunteers who counsel clients who are in crisis pregnancy situations. Some of our clients are as young as fourteen and as old as 50. They are often frightened, laden with guilt and many feel their lives are ruined or over.

The Sav-A-Life volunteers are extensively trained to offer these young women options. This is done in a very gentle and loving way. The volunteers are not there to judge the clients' behavior but rather to offer them hope, to help them in their immediate situations and to encourage them to choose a lifestyle that is more conducive to have a peaceful and wholesome life.

The situations of the clients are many and varied. Some are estranged from their parents; some have been raped either by a gang, a family member or a boyfriend; some have become pregnant from being on a careless emotional fling and, sadly, some become pregnant because they want someone to love them and they believe the baby will instantly love them from the moment of birth. Many come from poverty and violence filled backgrounds and a number of them come from middleclass and affluent families.

After getting information on the client's medications, drugs, alcohol use and a description of her lifestyle, the counselor provides the self-administered pregnancy test to the client. If the test is positive the volunteer offers the client enrollment in the Life Choices course. This course includes parenting, budgeting and lifestyle patterns along with a Bible study. During this course, the volunteer bonds with client. The volunteers go the extra mile with these clients and have been known to purchase groceries, they have brought food from their freezers, they have gone to a hospital and rocked a baby and they have spent hours in prayer for the clients.

Sav-A-Life is a faith based and faith funded organization. Each client is asked about the spiritual side of her life. Each volunteer is trained to speak in a caring way with clients about their spiritual journeys and the clients seem to love and welcome this part of the interview process. Prayer is included in each client visit.

The Group also offers The Hope Group as another service. This is a support group for post abortive women who are going through the emotional trauma left by an abortion. These traumas are sometimes dormant for more than 20 or 30 years and when they surface they cause emotional chaos. The Hope volunteers are truly extraordinary. All of them have had an abortion and suffered the traumas and gone through the healing and forgiving process. They want to share their recovery with these women who are still in chaos and help them become emotionally healthy. The Hope volunteered goes the "tenth mile" with each lady who attends the group. These volunteers are on call 24/7.