By Michael Motes

A call for help from the Archdiocesan Respect Life Office was enthusiastically answered by approximately 50 interested persons who appeared at the Catholic Center last week to hear the details of a new counseling program to assist pregnant women in crisis.

Headed by Mary Ellen Hughes, the Respect Life Office has launched the Crisis Pregnancy Service through Catholic Social Services, Inc., the multi-faceted archdiocesan office that provides services ranging from “Helping in Housing” for the elderly to finding new homes for the increasing number of Boat People arriving in Atlanta.

“This is a service which we have been trying to begin for some time,” says Miss Hughes, who began the Respect Life Office a little less than two years ago after a background in adolescent counseling.

“We chose the name Crisis Pregnancy Service because it simply states exactly what the service deals with -- a crisis, which is a temporarily unstable situation,” she commented.

Although the service is in the most initial stages of development, Miss Hughes is already dealing with a number of young women undergoing the “crisis” of an unwanted pregnancy.

“Almost inevitably, those with whom we have come in contact explain that they simply looked up ‘Catholic’ in the telephone directory and called whatever number they found listed, thinking that the Catholic Church would be able to help them,” Miss Hughes explained.

“Calls have ranged from a young girl in Texas whose parents were throwing her out of their house to the mother of a 14-year-old girl who refused to continue going to a public school because it was becoming obvious that she is pregnant.”

Taking the examples she has already encountered, Miss Hughes has developed a series of “role playing” situations that will be used to train those who have volunteered to assist in the counseling program. Training is now going on in both morning and evening sessions, each session limited to working with three volunteers.

“We want to expose our counselors to every type of situation they might encounter,” Miss Hughes says. “Once we have enough trained volunteers, we hope that the program can be expanded to a 24-hour a day telephone service. Right now we are simply trying to make our volunteers comfortable in any situation they might encounter.”

The program needs more than volunteers to handle telephone calls, Miss Hughes explained. Other areas in which the service needs assistance include housing for those in crisis; persons qualified to teach classes in childbirth education, nutrition, child care and parenting and homemaking skills; volunteers to be trained in guiding the pregnant woman to the individual or agency that can best assist in her particular situation, and physicians to provide free prenatal care.

“All that it takes to become a volunteer is an open heart, a listening ear and an eagerness to develop new skills,” the service director says.

Working closely with Miss Hughes in the program are Mrs. Betty Smith, Sister Ellen McSorley, Mrs. Agnes Driskoll and Mrs. Candee Elrod.

An evening orientation session for interested volunteers will be held on November 28 at St. Jude’s Church, 7171 Glenridge Drive, at 7:30 p.m.

Further information on the service is available from Miss Hughes at 881-6571 or Mrs. Elrod at 394-4588.