Join us as we praise God for His provision in our NEW Great Expectations Parenting Support Center!
“As we serve even more women considering abortion, we are all the more grateful for the Lord’s provision of the PSC.”
– Toby Debause, president of Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater
Visiting CPC’s admin office a couple of years ago, you would have been greeted by the friendly smiles of staff and volunteers, but you might also have had the less pleasant experience of weaving your way around and over piles of diapers, clothes, and other baby items sitting in the hallways.
Since we opened the Greenbrier clinic in 2017, a small room operated as our central Baby Boutique, where we sorted and stocked incoming donations of baby items that went to our other clinics and eventually to participants of our Great Expectations (GE) Parenting Classes.
But now, thanks to the Lord’s provision through our ministry partners, the use of over six storage units across the region, multiple storage closets in five of our centers, and packages of diapers lining the hallways are now things of the past.
Given more to serve more
At the end of 2022, CPC purchased two warehouse spaces in the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake, gutted them, and began transforming the buildings into one 5,000-square-foot space for ministry. At the beginning of 2024, our new Great Expectations Parenting Support Center (PSC) became operational.
“This distribution center has allowed us to bring everything together,” says CPC President Toby DeBause. We can see all of God’s provision in one place, and now we’re much more efficient in how we process it to get these things out to the parents. It’s worked beautifully.”
CPC volunteer Emily Borup has worked in our Baby Boutique since 2022, first at the Greenbrier location and now at the new PSC. “Having this larger space has been a blessing,” she says, explaining that it enables many workers to be in the boutique at the same time, with the donations in one place.
She also utilizes the new electronic inventory system, excited that we now know what’s coming in and what’s going out. “Before, we would have to go up and look; it wouldn’t be right there in front of us to see. So now we know the quantity of diapers [in stock],” she says.
Toby adds that “this system and the PSC has revolutionized things for us to be able to meet the need that is growing greater.”
Currently, our GE classes are serving over 70 families in five locations—more than ever before at this time of the year. But it’s no surprise, since our pregnancy clinics have also been serving a record number of patients in 2024.
“We launched the PSC amidst both record number of abortions in the US[1] and record numbers of patients coming to our pregnancy medical clinics,” says Toby.” As we serve even more women considering abortion, we are all the more grateful for the Lord’s provision of the PSC.”
CPC staff frequently give tours of the new facility to friends of the ministry, highlighting the new advocacy room, the GE classroom with its new LIFE Wall, and the distribution center.
“As soon as I open the door to the distribution center, it’s not unusual for people to gasp in awe, and some even tear up,” shares Toby, “which surprises me because I never thought a warehouse would generate so much awe and emotion. But what people see is God’s provision, and they’re overwhelmed. They know just by looking at it how much this means to so many families.”
‘You’re not alone’
Over the course of the 20-week GE class, expectant families earn Baby Bucks through attendance and participation, with which they can “buy” items from the Baby Boutique. The course comes at no cost to families, but, through it, they become equipped for parenthood, join a community of other expectant families, have the chance to hear the gospel, and are cared for by a community of believers from a local church.
“In the counseling room, when we have women who are like, ‘I can’t do this; I can’t afford it,’ they can say, ‘We can come alongside you. You can do this because we can equip you,’” shares Emilie, who leads our GE program. She explains that sometimes CPC’s patient advocates will even show the women one of the Baby Boutique orders from class. “They begin to process that they can do this.”
Emilie started as a volunteer in the GE program 10 years ago. “I’ve gotten to see the long-term outcomes,” she says. “To see years later how a mom is doing: They got married; they’re happy; they’re having other children; they’re walking with the church. I’ve gotten to see truly changed lives.”
“What we want for these families is that they have Full LIFE in Christ,” says Toby. “They can boldly choose LIFE because they know somebody is going to walk through this with them. So many families don’t have that. A Full LIFE, in this context, says to them, ‘You’re not alone.’”