The Williston Chamber of Commerce celebrated HER Inspiration Pregnancy Resource Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 9.Â
HER Inspiration Pregnancy Resource Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization that offers options for women and families faced with pregnancy decisions. Their mission statement promotes a place of healing, edification and rest to pregnant women, as well as a place for guidance in facing important physical, spiritual and emotional decisions. Founder and Executive Director Nadia Anthony created a place where options can be discussed with open conversation and that allows the expression of feelings, concerns and fears. Â
"To offer the free resources for women due to the fact that we have a lot of transients here," Anthony said of the reason she opened the pregnancy center. "I just personally know that women are suffering, and they're suffering in silence as their husbands are at work. They're just feeling like they don't have a place in this world."
Anthony completed a needs assessment for North Dakota and found out that the closest pregnancy center to Williston as two hours away. This inspired her to locate the center's headquarters in downtown Williston and give people a space to be treated with dignity and respect.Â
"The healing will go with helping women to understand how to take care of themselves. A lot of us don't understand how we eat and the things we put into our mouths have a lot to do with our mental health. So, if we can help women identify certain things, we can help them in a way that will benefit them in the future," Anthony said.
The center will offer pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, abortion recovery, parenting classes, prenatal classes, postpartum support, post-abortion support, confidential peer counseling, basic budgeting, breastfeeding education, car seat safety, reading to baby and positive self image coaching. Information about hospitals, clinics, birthing classes, medical services, legal aid and more will also be made available.Â
"I'm super excited. I'm ready to see it grow and get to be the resource that is needed here in Williston for all the families," board member RaeAnne Hayes said. "It's going to be nice that they're going to be a family thing. It's not going to be a one-sided resource. It'll be there for the men, for the kids, all of that. It comes as a whole."
HER Inspiration will have an alternative location to offer resources for men in the community upstairs at 14 W. Fourth Street. This location is geared to offer classes to men who are struggling to be involved with their partners and families or with supporting their family's needs. .Â
"We are looking at both ends because there are a lot of single dads. I didn't know they existed until my husband did his homework and came back with some assessments and things like that. So we are going to cater to single men with children, and also married men who work the majority of their lives and now they're not working as much. They don't even know how to function at home with their wives anymore," Anthony said. "We are going to cater in different areas to help families stay together. Understanding that marriage is hard and being a man is hard. As a woman, I can't teach that, but we have men in place to be able to do that for our men."
Anthony said that the plan is to have the resource center completely up and running, with a goal of raising $180,000 for operating costs by mid-Spring. She also said that the Williston STAR Fund will match up to $5,000.Â
Anthony gave credit to the support that she has received from community churches and to the individuals who have given in support of the organization to make her dream form into a reality.Â
