When Louisiana’s unprecedented rainfall this month wreaked havoc reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina, some 60,700 homes were damaged or destroyed and at least 13 lives were lost. Also lost in the devastation was Care Pregnancy Clinic, the absence of which leaves the lives of women and unborn children hanging in the balance.
Dorothy Wallis has served women and babies in Baton Rouge since she felt God’s call to open a crisis pregnancy center at the age of 24.
“Right now, we have women that are coming to our office and realizing that all of our debris is outside in three huge mountains, and knowing that we can’t help them,” CEO Dorothy Wallis told Live Action News in a phone interview. Care Pregnancy Clinic has been receiving messages from desperate lower income pregnant women, some of whom have lost everything in the flood themselves, and see abortion as their only option for a pregnancy at this time.
“Our ultrasound machines are gone, our exam tables are gone,” says Wallis, whose clinic provides women’s health and counseling services in Baton Rouge free of charge. “In the clinic environment, I have three exam rooms, three counseling rooms; I will need to have three RVs just to have the clinic functioning,” Wallis explains, as she seeks to raise $425,000 to cover the damages. Financial donations can be made online here. Further information listed on the website is as follows:
We need an RV so we can start serving now! If you are able to loan or donate an RV, we can begin saving babies immediately! The Care Pregnancy Clinic sustained substantial damage in the latest flooding in the 2016 Historic Flood. We estimate $425,000 is needed to make all the necessary repairs. All three ultrasound machines were damaged and need to be replaced, dry wall stripped, etc. The building needs repairs and all office electronic equipment must be replaced. No life-saving donation is too large or too small. We are a 501c3 charitable organization.
If you can help, click the donate button below and we will begin saving lives immediately. We also need contractors, men and women to volunteer. Our phones are down; you can text 225-229-5826, 225-266-7075 or email life@ctlm.org to volunteer your time.
While she is urgent, Wallis is assured of God’s grace and particularly addresses the young generation about accomplishing missions greater than themselves. Wallis, one of the original founders of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), started Care Pregnancy Clinic in a 400 square foot building supplied with discarded furniture and $200 per month from a church. “I was 24 years old when I felt like the Lord called me to start a crisis pregnancy center,” shares Wallis. “Coming out of a mortgage lending industry, I couldn’t believe that He would ask me to do that, but I kept walking forward, and He kept guiding me. So now for almost 36 years, I have been helping women make life decisions for [themselves] and their babies. I would have never believed it.”
