Photo by Johnathon Kelso

ROSWELL—Sarah Weikert, executive director of Pregnancy Aid Clinic, recalls sitting in a staff meeting one day when suddenly a colleague gasped and pointed out the window to the parking lot. Everyone turned their attention to see a young pregnant woman getting out of her car to enter the Roswell clinic.  

“I recognize her, she came in about seven months ago,” the staff member shared. “She had just found out she was pregnant and had no idea what to do.”  

When she first came to the clinic, the young woman was living in her car and was disconnected from her family. She needed a place that was safe, nonjudgmental and warm.  

After speaking with her, the clinic staff offered to support her with a program that would provide her with education, housing, transportation and medical aid, and she was thus given the opportunity to have a plan for her life.  

The woman told the clinic staff that through their support, she was able to reconnect with her family and find a home.  

This is the focus of Pregnancy Aid Clinic’s mission—to provide the emotional and physical support for men and women so that they no longer fear the uncertainty of a pregnancy.  

The Pregnancy Aid Clinic (PAC), a nonprofit organization that helps families struggling with pregnancy, made Weikert its new executive director in January. Since her arrival, Weikert has made it her mission to raise awareness and increase outreach.  

“I still feel very new, but it’s been great,” Weikert said. “I love it so much. My focus is to meet people where they are and help them grow from there.”  

Deacon Gary Schantz, chairman of the PAC Board of Directors, recommended this role to Weikert. She was unsure of the ministry and its mission, but after learning about the clinic, she said it touched her heart.  

With an extensive background in nonprofit leadership, business development and fundraising, Weikert said she felt compelled to take on the position. She most recently worked in advancement for Edmundite Missions and in development for Hemophilia of Georgia. 

Weikert said that as a child, she remembers seeing her mother take part in March for Life. Now that she is in this role, she feels it is a full-circle moment in carrying her mother’s passion for protecting life and helping women, she said.  

“The biggest thing is I want to help the clinic foster a culture of life, because it’s the baby, mother and father, and we want to offer that support and connection, and let them know that everything will be OK.” Weikert said.    

The Roswell location of PAC features a boutique where women can obtain needed items for their children by completing courses. Photo by Johnathon Kelso

Pregnancy Aid Clinic will be marking its 40th anniversary this year, and Weikert has planned to celebrate with several events throughout the year including a gala, and to repair and refurbish the clinics. 

“It is important to me that I start the year of our anniversary, because it pushes me to follow the legacy that has developed over the last 40 years.” Weikert said.  

Programs to empower families

PAC’s mission is to “operate from the Catholic belief in the sanctity of life, compassionately deliver services and programs created to lift up women, men and families during moments of uncertainty or grief, through a journey designed to reveal their own dignity and claim their own future.”  

There are three clinic locations. The main administrative office is in Roswell, and the other two sites are in Forest Park and Atlanta. Each one provides the same services.  

All types of resources are available, and the focus of each program within the clinic is to calm and ease the nerves of its clients.  

“Women who come to us have unplanned pregnancies and they are stressed, worried, and they don’t know what to do,” Weikert said. “Just having someone listen and reassure them and talk to them is very soothing.” 

This care is under the leadership of an advocate, a staff member who provides spiritual, medical, educational or emotional support to clients to find solutions to their most pressing needs. Advocates will outsource and provide tools for women and men. 

The advocate’s role is to empower families to make sustainable life choices, Michele Griner, director of client care, said in an email. Advocates listen empathically and provide clients with nurturing care and support that many only receive while at the clinic, Griner said.    

One program offered is Post Abortion Treatment and Healing (PATH), in which women and men who are struggling with the after-effects of an abortion can be counseled and supported spiritually and physically. Advocates will pray for the client with their consent. 

Baby shoes are among the items available at the boutique of Pregnancy Aid Clinic. Photo by Johnathon Kelso

Many pregnant women who come into the clinic are searching for community resources, Weikert said. Through their Resource Education and Community Helping Hands (REACH) and the Year of Hope program, women can find housing, transportation, therapy or utilities assistance to work toward finding stability.  

Education is an important step for clients, said Weikert. The clinics provide parenting courses for mothers and fathers, and classes on finance, budgeting, self-care and health. Through the help of advocates and experts, women and men are guided on how to find stability in all areas.  

“A lot of our patients have been with us for five to six years,” Shelly Stafford, communications manager said. “They’ve taken many classes and grown more confident in themselves.”  

While the clinics provide classes, counseling and mentoring programs, they also give women medical services like free ultrasounds, STI testing, fertility awareness and sexual integrity courses. These sessions are done with medical specialists and help women understand their whole-body health, Weikert said. 

Joanne Blakey, senior nurse manager, helps women understand their reproductive health and understands some women who come to the clinic can feel shame or guilt.  

“I always ask if I can pray with them, and I tell them that I’m not here to judge or scare them,” Blakey said. “I just want to help women and give them the opportunity to reconnect with themselves.”  

Being a family for clients

The Roswell clinic hosted a community baby shower in April, and 150 current and new clients attended. Provided at the baby shower were diapers, formula, bottles and other baby care items. Weikert said the attendees kept thanking her, but she reassured them that everything the clinic does is a team effort.  

“Everyone thanked me, but at the end of the day I couldn’t do it without everyone else here,” Weikert said. “Everyone was so connected, and they kept saying the word ‘family.’ Hearing clients say, ‘you’re my family,’ that is what really keeps me going.”  

The clinic is centered around love and guidance, in which it provides everything it can for its clients. Donations of baby care items are regularly sent to the clinics, and the Roswell clinic has a boutique where women can purchase infant, toddler and maternity clothes, as well as accessories like diaper bags, shoes and other gifts. These items can be purchased through “boutique bucks,” which are given to clients after each course they complete.  

The Pregnancy Aid Clinic is centered around being a nonjudgemental haven for pregnant women who need emotional and physical security.  

“Everything that happens here is beautiful.” Weikert said. “We’re really just one big family for our patients.”