#60Clients-in160Days
Three new programs have been established over the past two years, our Fatherhood Initiative, the Mobile Unit, and Toddler Milestones. The Fatherhood Initiative has become an anchor for our male clients. Dads are often relegated to the sidelines of a pregnancy decision, but they can now meet with male volunteers who empower them to have a voice. Confident, involved fathers lead to more stable families and better outcomes for their children. Toddler Milestones partners with parents and guardians to achieve school-readiness through research-based pathways for each stage of toddlerhood. This new program was made possible by the George and Francis Ball Foundation.
Another major service to our community is our Healthy Relationships Program, otherwise known as Creating Positive Relationships. The teaching of our Creating Positive Relationships curriculum in the local schools gives us an opportunity to be a light in a place where the heart cry of God is not usually welcome. We can encourage young people to consider abstinence and help them to develop all-around healthy relationships with parents, family, and friends. A small but mighty team makes this program possible in Delaware, Madison, and Grant Counties, and it is offered free to all schools because of faithful friends like you who donate to cover the costs. But the current volunteers are spread very thin, and we are unable to expand without the ability to add more instructors.
Suppose this program were to be cut. That decision would put about $45,000 back into the budget of First Choice, but at what cost? We would lose this unique service, a prophylactic measure that helps teens avoid unexpected pregnancies during the educational years. We would miss the opportunity to be a part of bringing up our youth in the way they should go, miss the chance to encourage them to get the quality education and social tools they will need to provide and care for a family when the time is right.
The programs listed above, and the impact made on many lives by these programs, were made possible by you and can only continue with you. “It takes a village” is not taken lightly at First Choice, and it rings true from our inner core to the outside hands that fund this mission. Together, we can achieve a community in which every individual is respected, and every child is wanted, cared for, and nurtured.
This year, our board created a fundraising campaign for #60clients-in160days, with a goal of raising $96,000. We have received $62,000 so far. We have also been blessed by fundraising friends with the promise of a matching gift of up to $10,000 to help us finish this year with a record “bang.” We are praying that we will not just reach but surpass our goal.
We know that there are many extraordinary nonprofits that you could support and have supported this year. That's why we are honored and extremely grateful when you choose us; when you choose to help moms, dads, guardians, foster parents, and babies in your community through your financial gifts to First Choice.
For 2024, First Choice has a planned budget totaling nearly $550,000 to sustain the programs we offer and provide ultrasound exams in both of our centers. We shared at the banquet this year our theme from Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
Will you help us? With your support, we will continue to make a significant impact in east central Indiana.