Shannon Bruner stands in the new Pregnancy Care Center at 912 West Speedway in Trumann. [Click to enlarge]

Shannon Bruner launched a local mission outreach just this week. Planning for the Pregnancy Care Center, located at 912 West Speedway, however, began three years ago when she realized the need for such a center in Trumann.

The Pregnancy Care Center will be open from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and on from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The center will offer free pregnancy tests. Lay counselors will also talk to clients about the options available to them including parenting, adoption resources and abortion facts.

"The center will share the truth about abortion and its effects," Bruner said. "It will give clients the information to make an informed decision."

It will not, however, make abortion referrals.

Adoption services will be offered through Bethany Christ Services of Little Rock. A representative from the group will be coming soon to share information with local clients.

Bruner says the clinic was opened to point clients toward the resources that are available to them. In addition to free pregnancy tests, the center will also offer free reading materials, parenting classes, baby care classes and prenatal classes.

Shannon Bruner was a teenage mother herself at the age of 16. She understands the panic and trepidation that teenagers face when fearing a pregnancy.

"God led me to reach out to pregnant teenagers in Trumann," she said. "In January of 2005, I started thinking about a center like this for Trumann."

The new center is not a counseling facility or a medical facility.

"It is a program to point clients toward resources that are available," Bruner said.

The new center is a faith-based non-profit organization existing for the purpose of demonstrating emotional, spiritual and practical support and alternatives.

"My desire is to open a facility to which girls who think they are pregnant can come to," Bruner said. "And with understanding, compassion and confidentiality receive free pregnancy testing along with emotional support and accurate information about available options."

The Pregnancy Care Center is directed by Bruner and has 16 trained lay counselors who will serve weekly assigned shifts. Clients will be seen as walk-ons or as scheduled appointments.

Bruner said that research has shown that there is a need for such a center in Trumann and in Poinsett County.

"The Jonesboro Pregnancy Care Center has operated for 28 years. Last year that center saw over 1,000 clients," Bruner said.

Pregnancy statistics for Poinsett County in 2004 (the latest stats available) show that girls aged 10-19 gave birth as follows: Trumann, 29; Marked Tree, 6; and Harrisburg, 14. Total births to teenage mothers in the county totaled 49

Arkansas Department of Health statistics show that in 2007 that induced abortions in Arkansas for girls aged 15-19 totaled 838.

Clients will receive a free pregnancy test and learn the results of the test in confidence. After receiving the results, a trained center volunteer will appropriately address her needs and individual concerns.

When a positive result appears, the center strives to give assistance with emotional support, recommendations for medical care, prenatal, childbirth and parenting classes, information on outside resources and assistance on maternity and newborn baby clothes and items. The client also receives accurate information concerning the available options of parenting, abortion and adoption.

Even when the pregnancy test is negative, the center strives to give information concerning healthy relationships.

The center's services are not limited to teenagers. The center will treat and counsel all women. The center will also provide post-abortion support group referrals.

Bruner, 39, is married to Felix Bruner and they have two children. She is librarian at Cedar Park Elementary School.

The center will also offer a Baby Shop where clients can purchase baby items. The center will sponsor a Earn While You Learn Program in July. Clients will watch videos about child care, prenatal care, birth and first aid. After the video, the client will fill out a work sheet and earn money to use towards items in the Baby Shop.

Bruner says the center hopes that area churches will have baby showers for the center and donate baby items. Bruner says she is available to make presentations about the center to area churches. The center would like area churches to put the center in their annual budgets.

The Pregnancy Care Center will have a booth at the Poinsett County Fair August 19-23.

The Pregnancy Care Center of Trumann is incorporated with the state of Arkansas. The center has received its 501(C) (3) tax exempt status. The center operates under a board of directors of Trumann residents. They are: Bill Matthews, Myra Condra, Tracy Wright, Mary Ruth Matthews and Jim Welch. Operating under a set of bylaws, the center hopes to later become a full-time ministry.

"This is not a church organized ministry," Bruner said. "This is a faith based ministry that we hope will be sponsored by many churches. We want to see it turn into a full-time ministry."

"We are hopeful that all churches in the area become involved as volunteers or in fund raising." Volunteers undergo 16 hours of training over a two-day period.

"Not all of our volunteers will counsel clients," Bruner said. Volunteers will help in other areas such as secretarial jobs, financial bookkeeping, facilities maintenance, materials management and class instruction.

The board has raised funds locally to get the project this far. They plan to sponsor several fundraisers each year. They are also hoping that individuals, churches and businesses will donate office furniture, office equipment and supplies, media equipment, maternity and newborn supplies and professional services.

They also hope that churches, individuals and businesses will contribute financially to the center. Funds are needed for facility upkeep, phone service, internet service, filing fees, insurance premiums, informational materials, office supplies and testing supplies.

Today there are over 2,500 crisis pregnancy center in the United States. The ministry of crisis pregnancy centers began in the 1980's as various churches accepted the challenge to address the issue of abortion, which was legalized in 1973. Since the case of Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion, more than 50 million babies have been aborted.