Aim Women’s Center presents new logo, expanded vision
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STEUBENVILLE -- Officials with Aim Women's Center Thursday presented a new logo for the crisis pregnancy center to match its expanded vision, which includes continual support for pregnant and postpartum women through a proposed maternity home.
Aim's Executive Director Rebekah Cohen Morris told a crowd of supporters at Franciscan Square about how the center, which has been in operation for 37 years, hopes to expand its services to meet needs observed in the community.
Morris said that more than 4,300 pregnant women face homelessness while in shelters, and nearly 9,000 more experience homelessness before, during or shortly after pregnancy. In Jefferson County, she said, there exists no supportive housing for pregnant women, with the closest being about 90 miles away. Local shelters serve their purposes, she added, but they don't offer the targeted services
"We have stories of girls who just got out of domestic violence or trafficking situations or recently getting out of jail and being pregnant still and having nowhere to go," Morris said. "It's not just a homelessness issue. It's people who are living in these hostile and unsafe environments while pregnant because they don't have anywhere else to go. And our answer to that is we need a maternity home. We need to offer something to the women here in Jefferson County."
Aim staff members have been researching maternity homes "meticulously" and even conducted visits, Morris said. They have an ideal structure in mind, yet they don't intend to be hasty when choosing the real location.
"We need a home that is perfect for these women -- a place that is beautiful, a place where stye can experience the love of Christ, where they can experience nurturing, where they can expense wholeness again and grow that baby and give birth to that baby and then live her first year in that house, receiving that constant support."
Aim will ask the community for its financial support once that "perfect" building is found, Morris said, but right now, the center is asking individuals to pray and consider how they can help make the vision a reality.
The center -- which offers material and medical assistance to pregnant women, along with support groups and classes -- is fighting against abortion in a "more holistic sense," by seeking to provide more services for women after they've given birth, Morris said. These steps will require additional staff and resources, she added, but it will be exciting to see how Aim can partner with the community to reach those goals.
Morris thanked the community, who she said has warmly welcomed her and her family since their move from Doraville, Ga., two years ago. She also thanked Aim's board and staff, without whom none of its efforts could be possible, she said.
"Ultimately, we all do this because we want women to experience an interact with Christ that saves them and changes the trajectory of their life and the generations that come after," Morris said. "And we know there's a lot of social services that can meet a need for today or tomorrow, but transforming someone's life -- helping them experience that transformation through Christ -- is the whole reason we do this. And if it's not that, then it's just putting a Band-Aid on the issue."
Supporters also heard from Alice Imam, the president of Aim's board of trustees, who spoke on the center's previous struggles and recent triumphs toward "(loving) our neighbors, no matter how small they are."
Imam said that Aim underwent a near-complete turnover of its staff in 2023, with many quitting or being released amid an "atrocious" financial situation. Offered services were low, which hampered Aim's ability to further its mission of "saving babies."
However, Imam said, that all "turned around" under the leadership of Morris, who with accountant and office manager Linda Nicosia assembled a "strong team" consisting of a clinic manager, client services coordinator, registered nurse, registered ultrasound technician and a client services manager -- along with continued support from Medical Director Dr. Jeffrey Starre.
Also under Morris, Imam said, Aim now offers "abortion pill reversal" treatment, 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds, a baby boutique and mothers' support groups, as well as doula classes and counseling and parenting classes and labor and delivery classes -- all of which provide concurrent child care.
Furthermore, Aim hosts monthly community baby showers for its pregnant mothers and has made more community and governmental relationships to give direct referrals, Imam said. She added that the center will begin post-abortion recovery programming, including retreats and weekly support groups, starting in January 2025.
Aim has served a total of 350 women so far in 2024, a count that's already surpassed the 2023 total by 100, Imam said. As for class attendance, 2023 had a monthly rate of 0.6 individuals with a total class attendance of seven. That's compared to 2024 thus far, which has a monthly rate of 26 individuals attending classes and a total of 311 attendees -- and classes only began in April.
In 2023, Aim gave 183 ultrasounds, and it's now given 223 this year, at an average of nine per week. The number of women returning to Aim after birth for continued support is at 103 so far.
"This number is so vital to us because, at Aim, we are so dedicated to helping women beyond their initial 'yes' to life," Imam said. "We are here to give them and their families a real shot at a thriving life afterwards -- materially, spiritually and socially."
Imam continued: "We are at war, and abortion is a very real choice for many of the vulnerable women we see every day. ... Out of 277 women who came to Aim and had a positive pregnancy test, 126 were abortion-minded or vulnerable. That is a big number. After speaking with our team, 114 of those women, or 90 percent, chose life for their baby. This is 10 percent higher than the national average for women centers providing similar service."
At Aim, staff recognize that "nothing is possible without Christ, and with him, everything is possible," Imam said. Staff members encourage this particularly by ending each appointment by praying with the women and presenting the gospel. Because of this, Imam said, many women have come to be connected to local churches and been baptized into the community.
For needs beyond Aim's capacity to handle, Imam said, the center has forged varied partnerships with other local entities, including the Sycamore Youth Center, Ohio Valley Counseling, Earth and Vessels Counseling, Steubenville High School, the Jefferson County General Health District, the Franciscan Sisters TOR, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Jefferson County Christian School, the Franciscan Friars TOR and local churches.
Similarly, Aim has restarted its partnership with Rachel's Vineyard, a post-abortion recovery retreat program, and established "a continuum of care" between Trinity Health System's Women's Health Center obstetrician gynecologists and Aim "in order to get experiencing pregnancy-related issues in the emergency room to be quickly and discretely ushered to the women's clinic at Trinity to receive more comprehensive and private care there."
Imam played a video explaining the history of Aim, which was founded in 1987 by Dan and Lynette Hawrot as the Assistance in Motherhood Pregnancy Help Center. The video also featured patient testimonials, with a focus on the perceived need for a maternity home.