A few weeks ago, I was blessed to share some of the fruits of our local Her Care Connection program at the first-ever Live Action Activism Training Camp in San Francisco, California. The response was amazing as the impact of our pro-life intern program in El Paso continues to catch attention across the nation.
The students and young adults involved in our Her Care Connection internship program do more than just hand out brochures. Every day, they enter the battlefield on the sidewalk along side their mentors, and are passionately innovating and transforming traditional pro-life sidewalk outreach to be more professional, compassionate, and effective for God’s glory.
From the street, most sidewalk outreach may look like people standing around, shouting, and waving brochures at women as they approach an abortion clinic. But outreach through our Her Care Connection program under the Southwest Coalition for Life is changing the game by creatively attracting and empowering women to choose life for themselves.
For Joel, one of our interns, his views have changed through our program’s approach. “I used to think sidewalk outreach was superficial, but here it’s so much more complex and interesting,” Joel said. “I used to view it just as us saving babies, but we are instead called to be humble servants.” In this manner, Joel has helped many women to become the hero of her own story by enabling her to save her baby from a predatory abortion industry.
Andrea, another amazing intern, shared how she’s seen her outreach make a difference in the lives of women facing real, transformative challenges. Our approach is modeled around the idea of wholistic feminism — empowering women to be whole: mind, body, and soul — meaning our staffed interns work as referral agents to connect each abortion-vulnerable woman to the support she needs to embrace life, no matter the incredible hardships she is facing.
Here are some strategies our interns shared on how they are making a real impact in the lives of these women:
- Empathizing with women no matter her life circumstances to meet her where she’s at and understand her fears
- Providing resources to help women with their real needs like counseling, medical care, financial support, and material goods
- Equipping women with factual information about abortion, pregnancy, and resources
- Educating women to make an informed decision given all of her options
- Walking alongside women, including those who regrettably choose abortion, with spiritual, physical, and emotional care to find healing and forgiveness
At the Southwest Coalition for Life, our interns know that when they come to work, they aren’t just standing on the sidewalk to protest. They are enacting measurable change in our community by empowering local women with solid resources, truthful education, compassionate guidance, and steadfast love.
Andrea shared witnessing first-hand how local abortion centers also do nothing to help women with the aftermath of their abortions, while Her Care Connection extends them mercy, grace, and love without shame or judgement. Many women who are tempted by abortion are walking through profoundly difficult situations in their lives and ironically feel they have no choice.
Our Her Care Connection interns bravely approach them without judgement while offering hope, love and true options. Through real, concrete support and education about the realities of abortion, the women we reach are grateful to be given a true choice — the choice of hope.
“I’m gaining a better understanding,” Andrea said. “I can help women choose life.”
We are currently looking for new outreach interns to join our part-time paid Her Care Connection program! If you are a student or young adult looking to make a real difference in the lives of women, children, and families, you are invited to check out more information about our program opportunities here.
Please don’t hesitate to fill out an application, or forward this link to anyone you know who might be interested. We would love to hear from you!
