Care Net Family Archives - Care Net Peninsula

February 8, 2023March 30, 2023

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Katelyn Carpenter

Hey Care New Family – We are excited to introduce you to our newest team member, Katelyn Carpenter. Katelyn joins us as our Development Coordinator, and she is someone you will get very used to seeing and talking to as the year goes on.

As the Development Coordinator, Katelyn will juggle the logistics of our Walk4Life, Peninsula4Life Dinner, and Bottles4Life Campaigns. If January was any indication of how she’ll do at this job, the ministry and you all are in great hands!!

Katelyn joined our team in January after relocating to the area last year. Why the move? Because she got married! She tied the knot in 2022 to Pastor Matthew, the Associate Pastor at Reformation Christian Fellowship. Together they enjoy exploring new places and hiking.

So while Katelyn may be new to Care Net Peninsula, she is no stranger to pregnancy centers and ministry work. She has served in ministry for about ten years and holds a Bachelor’s in Next Generation Ministries (Children’s Ministry) from Liberty University.

An interesting fact about Katelyn that plays a role in her passion for protecting the unborn, she’s a quintuplet! Even though they knew the dangers and risks that came with the pregnancy, her parents chose life for her and her four siblings.

We know Katelyn is just as excited as we are to be part of this family, and we’re looking forward to how God will use her to serve moms and save babies in our community.

Amanda Franks, Marketing Manager

February 8, 2023

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

We are excited to introduce you to our newest team member, Katelyn Carpenter. Katelyn joins us as our Development Coordinator, and she is someone you will get very used to seeing and talking to as the year goes on.

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

Tragically, 15 children in Virginia died from Covid-19. But since March 2020, 300 times that number of babies died from abortion . . . on the Peninsula. That’s over 4,000 preborn lives taken from our community in less than 3 years. But it would have been more.

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

His thoughts matter to her and play into her final decision about what she will do with the pregnancy. And while women may make voting decisions based on collective persuasion, they make pregnancy decisions usually in pairs.

February 2, 2023March 29, 2023

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

LEESA CONLEY TO CHAIR CARE NET PENINSULA’S 37TH ANNUAL WALK4LIFE

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley is to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event on May 13, 2023, at Newport News Park.

Newport News, VA – This May 13th over 1,000 people will gather at Newport News Park for the 37th annual Walk4Life benefitting Alcove Health, the Peninsula’s only no-cost women’s pregnancy health center. This annual event brings together local businesses, churches, and individuals to raise awareness and funds for the pregnancy clinic’s medical services and resources.

The 2023 Walk will be chaired by local businesswoman Leesa Conley, Retirement Services Officer at Old Point Wealth Management. Leesa’s passion for the unborn, devoted history with Care Net Peninsula, and deep community relationships make her the ideal chairperson for this impactful community event

“My father was the bi-product of a woman in the 50’s who decided to choose life for her unborn baby. Her decision to choose life for my father has birthed in me a deep passion and love for the ministry of Care Net. I am honored to be able to carry on the legacy and chair the 2023 Walk4life.”

Registration opens at 8:30 am and the event will begin at 9:30 am at shelters 19 & 20 and will include a community walk through Newport News Park, music, family activities, and refreshments. For more information or to donate online, please visit www.peninsulawalk4life.org.

About Care Net Peninsula Care Net Peninsula, founded in 1986 as Peninsula Crisis Pregnancy Center, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides no-costs services to women experiencing unplanned pregnancy. Care Net Peninsula operates a medical clinic in Newport News offering options counseling, ultrasounds, parenting support and more.

Anne Sych, Director of Development

February 9, 2023

Serving Moms and Saving Babies in a POST-ROE WORLD

See the impact YOU made in 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

August 18, 2022September 16, 2022

2022 Summer Newsletter

Summer 2022 Newsletter

Recently a friend of mine shared a personal story of how abortion impacted her. A relative was facing an unplanned pregnancy, and she had the opportunity to counsel her about what to do.

Her relative shared she was planning to have an abortion because she wasn’t ready to be a mom. However, she also shared that she wasn’t sure if that was the right choice and that her faith was part of the decision.

My friend listened and then encouraged her to keep the baby and to consider adoption if she wasn’t ready to be a mom. She noted the potential for guilt and anxiety if she went through with a decision she had doubts about. She also counseled her to consider her faith and what the Bible says about babies in the womb.

Her relative ended up choosing to keep the baby. My friend threw her a baby shower, invited her to church, and offered to continue to help however she could.

Here’s how the media would report about my friend:

Fake Therapist Targets Vulnerable Woman With Misinformation

Forced-Birth Activist Claims Abortion Causes Mental Disorders

Biased and outright false critiques of pregnancy centers have been around for a long time. The difference right now is that the critics are holding the microphone.

Normally, I would dismiss it as noise and plow ahead. After all, I look to Christ for validation, not NBC News.

But the sheer volume of recent critiques paired with the crafty, nice-sounding ways they’re presented is enough for me to pause to respond to the most common myths you might be hearing.

I pray that every member of the Care Net Family: you, me, volunteers, and staff would remain steadfast and “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season will reap, if we do not give up.”

MYTH #1:

Overturning Roe ended abortion in Virginia

Overturning Roe will save thousands of babies this year, but not here in Virginia. The Supreme Court did not end abortion in America. Instead, they returned the decision to the states. In Virginia, abortion is still legal until the 25th week of pregnancy with almost NO restrictions.

MYTH #2:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care."

This tweet from Senator Elizabeth Warren is not true. Nowhere on our website or in our marketing do we make false claims about the services we provide. We do not perform or refer for abortion; we state this clearly and unequivocally when clients ask about our services. Additionally, in 2019 Google started including a disclaimer with all of our ads that says, “does not provide abortions“.

We are proud to provide counseling to women seeking abortions. You can counsel effectively and honestly about something without encouraging it. Anyone who’s had “The Talk” with their teenager has had such a conversation.

We are so effective at this that even the abortion clinic down the street refers clients to us who aren’t sure if they want an abortion.

MYTH #3:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers exist solely to intercept and dissuade pregnant people from making fully informed decisions about their healthcare such as the choice to obtain an abortion."

This myth is a direct quote from a letter written by the New York Attorney General to Google’s CEO urging them to erase us from all search results. In reality, our licensed, registered nurses provide pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and factual abortion information to clients at NO COST to them.

The women we serve voluntarily seek our counsel because they view the decision to abort their baby as complex: impacting them physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

This myth relies on the premise that sharing information that may reveal the humanity of unborn children (like an ultrasound) or any conversation that implies a moral component to an abortion decision is peddling misinformation. At Care Net Peninsula, we reject that premise!

It was pro-abortion legislators in Virginia who, in 2020, voted to eliminate the ultrasound requirement and 24-hour waiting period that gave pregnant women the time and information they needed to “make a fully informed decision about their healthcare.”

MYTH #4:

Crisis Pregnancy Centers' staff are not licensed, medical professionals.

FALSE! A licensed OB/GYN oversees clinic operations as our Medical Director. In addition, our Registered Nurses are trained to perform limited ultrasounds to confirm pregnancies.

Dr. Jerrid Neeley, DO, OB/GYN

Medical Director

Kinta Dye, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Meg Williams, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Karla Laskowski, RN, BSN

Staff Nurse

Patty Shuster, RN

volunteer nurse

MYTH #5:

Government money is used to help fund CPCs

Care Net Peninsula does not receive funding from the government. We even decline the Medicaid payments we’re entitled to for the medical services we provide to clients.

All our funding is from local individuals and churches who stand with us to provide help and hope to local women and babies in our community.

Click Here

Ryan Holloway, Executive Director

August 18, 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

February 8, 2023

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

February 2, 2023

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

December 5, 2022

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

September 14, 2022

July 15, 2022August 3, 2022

Sharing the Truth: We Care About Moms and Babies

Sharing the Truth:
We Care About Moms & Babies

We keep hearing how Pro-Life means you are only Pro-Birth – but we all know that is the furthest thing from the truth . . . especially for every member of the Care Net Family. So let’s unpack this myth a little more below:

myth #1

Pregnancy Centers don't help women after their babies are born

FACT:

Care Net Peninsula provides resources to support moms from the beginning of their pregnancies through birth and beyond.

Beginning with a positive pregnancy test, we offer services and resources to support women through their pregnancies and beyond. We are not only “pro-baby” but also “pro-woman” and set a continuum of care into motion to help women choose life.

Our clinic team will provide a woman with essential medical services during that first visit. These services include a pregnancy test, confirmation ultrasound, and, if needed, STI testing. During this visit, we can also connect each woman with a range of community partners who help meet her other needs, such as insurance (Medicaid), housing, food assistance, church connections, professional counseling, and resources for older children. We aim to ensure each woman we meet receives the proper assistance in her time of need.

Some women we serve will choose to life for their baby and later suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth. We are here to help connect each of them with local advocacy groups, ongoing support, and care – as much as they would like.

We want to ensure that each of our moms (and dads) is prepared and ready to parent, so we offer the option to enroll in our free parenting program, Learn, Equip, and Parent (LEAP). This program includes a wide array of class options and, as with all of our services, is entirely free to our clients (paid with the help of our generous donors).

After completing their classes, our moms will receive one of our Bundles4Babies – a basket or bathtub overflowing with diapers, wipes, baby clothes, toiletries, blankets, bibs, and much more (all thanks to YOU!). We even help with extra diapers and wipes for the first six months!!

We know that women facing an unplanned pregnancy often feel scared and alone. So one of our passions is to connect the women (and men) we serve to one of our local church partners.

We ask each of our clients if they would like to connect with a local mentor who can provide seasonal discipleship for a few months or even longer. We have pulled together a group of mentors (members of local churches) who are there to bring these women (and men) into the caring community of the local church. If the baby’s father is interested, we can also connect him with a mentor!

Our team cares about every woman who walks through our doors. We pray that each one will choose life, but we know some won’t. So we offer a Post-Abortion Recovery group for those who leave our clinic and choose abortion. Why? Because we still care about each of them.

Just like our donors are part of the Care Net Family, our clients are part of the Alcove Health Family. This is what a community in action looks like, and it wouldn’t be possible without each of you.

July 15, 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

February 8, 2023

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

February 2, 2023

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

December 5, 2022

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

September 14, 2022

June 14, 2022June 14, 2022

Tami Dierberger to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 36th Annual Peninsula4Life Benefit Dinner

Tami Dierberger to Chair Care Net Peninsula's 36th Annual Peninsula4Life Benefit Dinner

Local business owner, Tami Dierberger, to serve as Chairwoman at this year’s annual Peninsula4Life Benefit Dinner. The dinner will take place on October 20th at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Newport News, VA – This October 20th, over 600 guests will gather at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, VA, for the 36th annual Peninsula4Life Dinner benefitting Alcove Health, the Peninsula’s only no-cost women’s pregnancy health center. This yearly event brings together local businesses, churches, and individuals to raise awareness and funds for the pregnancy clinic’s medical services and resources.

The 2022 dinner is to be chaired by local businesswoman Tami Dierberger, owner and marketing specialist of Donatos Pizza in Newport News, VA. Tami’s passion for women and the unborn, deep community relationships, and history with the Care Net Peninsula make her the ideal chairperson for this inspirational event.

“I am humbled to Chair the 2022 Care Net Peninsula4Life Dinner and to work alongside a team of incredible individuals that share a passion for life”, says Tami. “I witnessed the life-changing impact Care Net Peninsula had on a young woman that is very dear to me, strengthening my desire to be involved. This annual dinner is extremely important as it helps provide the opportunity for Care Net Peninsula to reach many women right here on the Peninsula, and that excites me!”

The keynote speaker for the evening will be New York Times best-selling author and radio host Eric Metaxas. For more information or to donate online, please visit peninsula4life.org.

About Care Net Peninsula: Care Net Peninsula, founded in 1986 as Peninsula Crisis Pregnancy Center, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides no-cost services to women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. In addition, Care Net Peninsula operates a medical clinic in Newport News, offering options counseling, ultrasounds, parenting support, and more.

- Contact: Anne Sych, Director of Development
- Phone: 757-591-0303
- Email: anne@cnpeninsula.org
- Website: cnpeninsula.org

Anne Sych, Director of Development

June 14, 2022

Serving Moms and Saving Babies in a POST-ROE WORLD

See the impact YOU made in 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

June 13, 2022June 13, 2022

The Battle to Protect the Unborn

We all have questions as we await the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case. Recently, Colleen Holcomb, a local attorney and member of the Care Net family, wrote a blog post that details the situation from a pro-life legal perspective. It provides some history, insights, and a look ahead at what comes next for abortion across the country and here in Virginia.

As pro-life Americans, in many ways, we are living in the days we have been praying for: the day the news declares that Roe v. Wade is dead!

Although it is not yet official, a leaked draft confirmed to be authentic indicates that a majority of the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. These two cases have supported the Supreme Court’s claim that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to abortion.

Indeed this is great news! But, tragically, the battle to protect the unborn is far from over.

The legal situation surrounding abortion is confusing even for Constitutional legal scholars. The following is just a brief overview of the history of federal abortion law, a description of the current legal landscape, and actions pro-life Americans can take to keep defending innocent life.

The Age of Roe v. Wade

In its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court claimed that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution contains a “right to privacy” and that this right to privacy guarantees a right to have an abortion.

Because of this determination, the Court established a policy (which is not the Court’s job) dictating what kinds of regulations states were allowed to impose on abortion during each of the three trimesters of pregnancy. Roe prohibited the states from placing restrictions on abortion during the first trimester.

The Supreme Court expanded protection for abortion in the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. In Casey, the Court left in place the Roe Court’s claim of a constitutional right to abortion but rejected the trimester framework. The Court in Casey held that any state restriction on abortion before “fetal viability,” meaning the time the baby could live outside the mother’s womb, must not pose an “undue burden” on a woman seeking termination of her pregnancy. This decision and its intentionally vague language empowered the abortion industry to successfully challenge most regulations on abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

The End of Roe v. Wade

On May 2, 2022, Politico published a leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In Dobbs, the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that prohibits abortion after fifteen weeks, the gestational age that current scientific data indicates that an unborn child can feel pain.

The draft opinion indicates that most of the Justices have voted to overturn Roe and Casey, and the idea is music to pro-life ears!

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito finally acknowledged:

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

So, Roe and Casey have been overturned, but does that mean abortion is now illegal?

Sadly, no. Through the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court has determined that the Constitution does NOT contain a right to abortion. So, no federal “law of the land” requires states to allow abortion. But similarly, there is no federal law requiring states to protect unborn life. Therefore, in the absence of a federal right to or prohibition of abortion, the legality of abortion falls to the states, as it was before Roe.

Justice Alito explained in his draft opinion why it is more constitutionally appropriate for abortion policy to be determined by the states:

We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.

Justice Alito then quotes the late, imminently pro-life Justice Scalia’s words from his dissenting opinion in Casey:

The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.

Immediately following the leak, pro-abortion leaders in the Senate attempted to pass a law that would have enshrined Roe in federal law by establishing a federal right to abortion at all stages of pregnancy, even to the moment of birth.

The Senate currently has a pro-abortion majority, so if the law had been brought to the Senate floor for a vote, the law would have passed. But thankfully, Senate procedural rules require a sixty-vote threshold to invoke “cloture,” meaning to end discussion of any proposed legislation and move to a final vote. Praise be to God; enough Senators opposed the legislation to keep it from moving to a vote.

Federal Legislators on both sides of the aisle are advocating abortion legislation to protect life and to require abortion. So, we need pro-life Americans to stay engaged!

Here are just some pending pro-life federal bills to watch and encourage your Congressional leaders to support:

- Born Alive Protection Survivors Act – This act would create a federal requirement that medical personnel must act to save the life of any child born alive after an attempted abortion.

- Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – This would create a federal prohibition on abortion after the specific time science has indicated a child can feel pain in the womb. Some versions of this bill reference 20 weeks, but scientific advances since the bill’s introduction, have now indicated that children in the womb can feel pain at 15 weeks.

- Women’s Right to Know Act – This act creates a federal requirement that abortion providers must inform women seeking an abortion of their child’s gestational age, fetal development, and the risks associated with the procedure.

- SAVE Mom and Babies Act – This would prevent abortion drugs from being distributed through the mail or via telehealth and prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving new abortion-inducing drugs.

- Heartbeat Bill – This bill would establish a federal prohibition on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected or around six weeks of gestational age.

- Protections Against Down Syndrome – These protections would create a federal prohibition on abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome.

What Does This Mean for Virginia?

Twenty-six states have existing laws on their books or pending legislation ready to pass once the Dobbs decision becomes official that will ban abortion either entirely or within the first few weeks of pregnancy. Sadly, Virginia is not one of them. Virginia law currently allows abortion through the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.

In recent years, Virginians passed several laws to protect women and empower them to choose life, but when a pro-abortion majority took control of the General Assembly in 2020, they eliminated these protections.

However, a pro-life majority regained control of Virginia’s House of Delegates in 2021, and the pro-abortion majority holds the Virginia Senate by just one vote. If pro-life Virginians can build on those gains in 2023, we have an opportunity to save lives. Governor Glenn Youngkin has stated that he will support a twenty-week ban on abortion.

What Can You Do to Defend Life in This Season?

Now is an exciting time to engage in conversation about life. According to recent polling:

- 56% of Americans support the decision in Dobbs
- 71% oppose abortion after the first trimester
- 58% oppose taxpayer funding for abortion
- 65% would support a candidate who supports abortion limits

Despite what the media tells us, abortion is not popular with a majority of Americans.

Now is the time for pro-life Americans like yourself to get involved in the discussion, voice your support for life, continue to pray, fast, march, vote, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, continue to partner with organizations like Care Net Peninsula to support the mothers and fathers facing unplanned pregnancies. Let everyone know that we are not just pro-birth but pro-abundant life!

Colleen Holcomb, J.D., Guest Author

June 13, 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

February 8, 2023

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

February 2, 2023

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

December 5, 2022

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

September 14, 2022

May 10, 2022May 11, 2022

Why I Am Pro-Life. Why I work for LIFE

Why I am Pro-Life

Why I am Pro-Life.
Why I work for LIFE.
I work to preserve life because life is precious, all life is precious.

I never want another woman to find herself in a room surrounded by people pressuring her to end her baby’s life. I had been married for a few years and we were expecting my first baby. The OB ran the usual tests and one of them came back . . . suspect. He sent me to specialists at Eastern Virginia Medical School. My husband and I went for the appointment. They confirmed my baby had Down Syndrome, Trisomy 21.

The “specialists” at EVMS painted a grim picture of what her life would look like. What our life with her would be like. How she would need extra care. She would not learn at the same pace as the other children and would need special education. How she might never learn to care for herself. They told us that her life span would probably be 50 to 60 years and that she would most likely outlive my husband and me and would need someone to care for her. She would have been our first child – so we would have to consider how we could provide for her beyond the end of our lives. Someone suggested we would need to have other children to ensure there would be someone to care for her beyond our life.

These experts kept telling us the extreme difficulties we would face if we kept her. Not once did they say that there was help out there for families of Down Syndrome babies. Not once did they offer to connect us with resources to help us. Terminating the pregnancy was the only route they suggested.

Emotionally I was spiraling out of control. I needed someone to tell me I could do it – that I could care for her. That everything was going to be alright. That there were people and organizations out there that would provide support. I needed to slow down and process.

My husband was convinced that we needed to terminate our daughter’s life and every one of the “experts” was pushing for the “logical choice” to terminate my baby’s life. I felt alone and pressured to end her life. And I had no time to make the “decision,” it was imperative that the decision be made immediately.

I am ashamed, and I live every day regretting the decision I made.

More than anything, I want women who are afraid to have the help and hope they need to choose life for their baby.

I think if there had been a safe place to process and strong Christian counselors to help me slow down and process, to remember the goodness of God, to find the support I would need to care for my daughter, I would have made a different decision.

I want other women who are afraid and are only hearing how they should end their baby’s life to hear that they are able, that God can strengthen them and provide for them and their baby. I want them to know that God created the baby they are carrying, and He has a plan. I want them to hear the truth, and I want the truth to drown out ALL the lies and speculations the world and the “experts” are telling them.

I pray daily that God would open a way to provide counseling for women like me. Women who are sent into the “specialist’s” office, where the only thing they will hear is that they should terminate their baby’s life.

I am pro-life.
I work to save LIFE.
I work to preserve life because life is precious, ALL life is precious.

Anonymous Donor

May 10, 2022

The Care Net Peninsula Family is built up of so many amazing individuals. You encourage us with the ways you fight abortion in our community and work to provide help and hope to local women so they choose life for their babies. You each have a unique story of how God brought you to this moment to take up this charge and we would love to hear it.

If you would like to share your story with the Care Net Family send an email to amanda@cnpeninsula.org

Serving Moms and Saving Babies in a POST-ROE WORLD

See the impact YOU made in 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

March 24, 2022September 30, 2022

Meet Carrie Cecil

Meet Our Board of Directors

Carrie Cecil

At the beginning of the year, we welcomed Carrie Cecil to our Board of Directors.

Born and raised on the Peninsula, Carrie met her husband while attending Thomas Nelson Community College. Together they have three small children, whom Carrie spends her days nurturing and schooling. They are members of Reformation Christian Fellowship in Newport News, where Carrie first heard of Care Net Peninsula through a Bottles4Life Campaign the church was hosting.

God began cultivating a passion in Carrie’s heart for moms in need during her own pregnancies where she suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It was during that time she came to understand firsthand how a pregnancy, planned or unplanned, is often accompanied by fear and suffering.

“Care Net Peninsula provides hope and help to the fearful and the suffering moms in our community and I am proud to be part of this ministry!”

We are excited to have Carrie as part of the Care Net Family and look forward to serving alongside her in the years to come and seeing how God is going to use her within the ministry. And watch out . . . she has a blackbelt in Tae Kwan Do!!

Amanda Franks, Marketing Manager

March 31, 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

March 5, 2022March 31, 2022

Meet Teresa Chalsma

Meet Our Board of Directors

Teresa Chalsma

At the end of 2021, we welcomed long-time Care Net Family member, Teresa Chalsma, onto our Board of Directors.

Teresa, alongside her husband Brian, has been a faithful supporter of the ministry since 2010. During that time, she has worn many hats in our ministry, and we have loved serving alongside her.

As a Client Intake Volunteer (CIV), Teresa was able to see first-hand the work being done in our clinic each week. She played a vital role in aiding our clinic team during her shift and ensured clients were provided a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Her ability to connect with others and passion to share about the mission and work of our ministry made Teresa the first choice when setting up our Executive Leadership Team for our Peninsula4Life Dinners. In 2020 she took up the charge to chair the team and assisted us in navigating a fundraising dinner through a global pandemic.

Aside from being “boots on the ground” within the ministry, Teresa, along with her partners at The Roofing Company, generously sponsor our events each year to help ensure all funds raised go directly back into our clinic.

“I started volunteering and supporting Care Net Peninsula because I felt it was a positive way to serve moms and save babies. I love that all the services are free to women. The staff at the clinic is phenomenal!”

Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree from Radford University in business and marketing – we look forward to seeing how God can use her skills and knowledge in those areas in the years to come.

In her free time, Teresa enjoys being with her family. She has been married to her husband Brian for 31 years, and together they share 3 daughters. Teresa and Brian enjoy traveling in their RV, including a yearly trip with their entire family. The Chalsma family are members of Lifehouse Church and spend their time supporting not only local missions like Care Net, but they love to help spread the Gospel through mission trips abroad.

We know this new season and new role within Care Net for Teresa will continue to bless our moms and babies and help to spread the message of help and hope to so many women across the community who need it.

Teresa Chalsma and Family

Amanda Franks, Marketing Manager

March 14, 2022

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Leesa Conley to Chair Care Net Peninsula’s 37th Annual Walk4Life

Local businesswoman Leesa Conley to serve as chair at this year’s annual Walk4Life Community Event to take place on May 13, 2023 at Newport News Park

Critical Year-End Ministry Update

Does He Really Matter In The Pregnancy Decision?

February 17, 2022March 31, 2022

Meet Dyan Gurley

Meet Our Board of Directors

Dyan Gurley

Last year we added another wonderful community leader and long-time ministry supporter, Dyan Gurley, to our Board of Directors. God has been using her to spread his Word and stand for life on Peninsula for some time now and we are thankful to have her as part of the Care Net Family.

Dyan is a Certified Encouragement Consultant, Licensed Minister, and founder of Alabaster Women Ministries in Newport News. She has a passion for mentoring women of all ages, showing them grace and the love of Christ. Dyan is the wife of a military veteran and a proud Mom and Grandmom, who loves spending time with her family. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, crocheting, baking, and reading.

Already over the course of the year that Dyan has been on our Board of Directors, she has helped to bridge connections to local churches in our community that were unfamiliar with the work of Care Net Peninsula and our clinic – to spread the message of our ministry that we are here to provide the help and hope local women need to choose life for their babies. We look forward to serving alongside Dyan and are grateful for the many ways she serves our ministry and our moms and babies.

Meet Our New Development Coordinator

Katelyn Carpenter

February 8, 2023

LEESA CONLEY TO CHAIR CARE NET PENINSULA’S 37TH ANNUAL WALK4LIFE

February 9, 2023

Summer 2022 Newsletter

Fake Therapist Targets Vulnerable Woman With Misinformation

Forced-Birth Activist Claims Abortion Causes Mental Disorders

MYTH #1:

Overturning Roe ended abortion in Virginia

MYTH #2:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care."

MYTH #3:

"Crisis Pregnancy Centers exist solely to intercept and dissuade pregnant people from making fully informed decisions about their healthcare such as the choice to obtain an abortion."

MYTH #4:

Crisis Pregnancy Centers' staff are not licensed, medical professionals.

Dr. Jerrid Neeley, DO, OB/GYN

Kinta Dye, RN, BSN

Meg Williams, RN, BSN

Karla Laskowski, RN, BSN

Patty Shuster, RN

MYTH #5:

Government money is used to help fund CPCs

August 18, 2022

Sharing the Truth:We Care About Moms & Babies

myth #1

Pregnancy Centers don't help women after their babies are born

FACT:

Care Net Peninsula provides resources to support moms from the beginning of their pregnancies through birth and beyond.

July 15, 2022

Tami Dierberger to Chair Care Net Peninsula's 36th Annual Peninsula4Life Benefit Dinner

June 14, 2022

The Battle to Protect the Unborn

The Age of Roe v. Wade

The End of Roe v. Wade

So, Roe and Casey have been overturned, but does that mean abortion is now illegal?

What Does This Mean for Virginia?

What Can You Do to Defend Life in This Season?

Colleen Holcomb, J.D., Guest Author

June 13, 2022

Why I am Pro-Life

May 10, 2022

Meet Our Board of Directors

Carrie Cecil

March 31, 2022

Meet Our Board of Directors

Teresa Chalsma

March 14, 2022

Meet Our Board of Directors

Dyan Gurley

February 17, 2022

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Sharing the Truth:
We Care About Moms & Babies