The Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center in Hillsboro is in its 32nd year of assisting women who are facing unexpected pregnancies as well and new parents and extended family caregivers.

“We’re here for anyone who is facing an unexpected pregnancy and needs help — anyone who needs a free pregnancy test or material aid for their babies,” said Cathy Griffith, the center’s executive director. “Everything that we receive is given to us, and I have this saying: ‘It’s by the grace of God that we receive it; it’s by the grace of God that we give it away.’”

The center, which opened in 1991, helped about 600 people last year and has served more than 4,100 clients during its existence.

Items given out by the center include diapers, wipes, clothing and car seats. “We’re a faith-based organization, so we’re here to help those in our community who have needs, especially for their babies, before, during and after their babies are born,” said Griffith.

The center offers parenting classes that cover topics including car seat safety, infant massage, budgeting, breastfeeding, bottle-feeding. “We want to try to help parents, new parents and even those who have toddlers to be the best parents they can,” said Griffith.

The classes offered by the center operate under what is called an “Earn While You Learn” (EWYL) system. “When the class is over, they receive about $250 worth of goods that are nice, new things for their babies because they’ve earned it because they’ve gone through all the classes,” said Griffith.

Helping U Grow Stronger (HUGS) is the name of one of the “Earn While You Learn” classes. “That’s for parents who already have children, and a lot of times they need refresher courses,” said Griffith. “It’s about things that you need to know about a baby and about a toddler like how to gently discipline them, and just to help them be the best parents they can be, so whatever parents need, that is what we offer to help them be good parents.”

The center also works with the local court system and Highland County Children Services to assist parents in satisfying a case plan to regain custody of their children. “The court or Children Services will send us information about the issue, and we’ll design a program just for them,” said Griffith.

The programs at the center are available at no cost to anyone who needs parenting help with a baby. “We have a lot of dads who come and take classes, which is a great thing,” said Griffith. “We’re here for men, we’re here for moms-to-be, dads-to-be, or moms and dads.”

She said the center has also helped many grandparents who are responsible for raising grandchildren.

“We just want to be here for the community because we live in a community with lots of issues, and we just try to deal with that,” said Griffith.

Educators from the center also teach a program called Relationships Under Construction in middle schools and high schools in Highland County. “We’ve done that since 2007 because in our county teen pregnancy has always been an issue, and since we started the teen pregnancy rate in Highland County has almost been cut in half, so we know it’s an effective program,” said Griffith.

As a faith-based organization, the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center promotes abstinence until marriage, does not provide contraceptives, and does not recommend a provider or refer for abortions.

The center does not receive government funding and is supported solely by donations from individuals, businesses and churches.

“We are always in need of larger diapers from size three to six, and we are always in need of baby wipes,” said Griffith. “If people feel they want to do something for the center, they can call, and we can talk about things they can do.”

The Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center can be reached at 937-393-2990.

Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.