Warsaw Woman, Heartline Pregnancy Center Director to Visit D.C.
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw resident Emily Behny and Heartline Pregnancy Center Executive Director Angie Wood will travel to Washington, D.C., this month.
They will discuss the importance of pregnancy centers such as Heartline with government officials representing this area and other elected officials in Washington.
Heartline’s mission is to provide education and options to men and women facing unplanned pregnancies.
Services offered at Heartline include child birth classes, pre-school services for the children whose parents are enrolled in the center’s programs, free pregnancy testing and ultrasound services.
The center also offers educational programs for parents to care for their child, prenatal care, lifeskill lesson classes and assistance with purchasing needed childcare items.
Heartline was founded in 1985. The organization provides pregnancy services to 50 families a month, and child care and pre-school services to 20 families a month, according to Wood. Heartline also provides free child birth class vouchers to Kosciusko Community Hospital.
In addition to Behny and Wood visiting Washington, Behny’s 5-year old son, Aidan Davila, and Amy Rosswarm, program director for Heartline’s Teens and Tots program, also will travel to D.C.
They will be in Washington Wednesday through July 20 to speak to congressmen on the benefits of pregnancy centers in America.
While the group is in Washington, Behny, 23, Warsaw, will have the opportunity to discuss her pregnancy story and the assistance she received from Heartline.
Behny was pregnant when she was 16 and a sophomore at Warsaw Community High School. She gave birth to her son when she was 17.
She benefited from Heartline’s Teens and Tots program that is for high school and college students who have found themselves in an unexpected pregnancy. Heartline provides child care while the parents seek their diplomas.
Behny’s son graduated in May from Heartline’s preschool program.
Behny said she is excited to visit Washington to discuss her pregnancy story.
“I want the congressmen and women to understand how important pregnancy centers are, and if it wasn’t for Heartline I would have had to drop out of school to take care or my child,” Behny said. “Because of Heartline I was able to give my son the life he deserves.”
Behny’s is one of four women nationally selected to tell her pregnancy story in Washington, D.C. The other women who will share their pregnancy stories are from California, Texas and Oklahoma.
Heartline is part of an affiliation called Heartbeats International. The organization sent out an email saying they were offering a Babies Go To Congress event.
The event is where people who have used pregnancy centers and have success stories have an opportunity to meet with their local and state representatives to talk about pregnancy centers and their importance.
“It is letting the representatives know pregnancy centers care about the whole family, including the father, mother and children,” Wood said.
Behny is one of many women who have benefited from Heartline Pregnancy Center. She learned about Heartline when the center’s representatives came to Warsaw Community High School to talk about the services they offered.
Behny participated in Heartline’s Earn While You Learn program when she was pregnant where she learned about parenting skills and car seat safety.
She also received coupons to Heartline’s Babes and Britches Etc. program to purchase a car seat and clothes for her son.
She started her junior year in high school only two weeks after giving birth.
Her son continued to attend the Teens N Tots program while she drove to Fort Wayne every day for school. She would then take her son home and go to work.
“Leaving my son at Heartline’s daycare program, Teens N Tots, was so hard but I knew he was in good hands,” Behny said.
“It was a busy schedule for a young girl but I did what I had to do and graduated from college,” she continued.
Behny graduated in 2008 from Warsaw Community High School. She also graduated from Rudae’s Beauty College, Fort Wayne, in 2009, and earned a cosmetology license.
Since giving birth to her son, she got married two years ago, purchased her first home with her husband and they welcomed their first daughter, Ella, last October.
Behny is an assistant teacher for Heartline Pregnancy Center’s Teens ’N Tots childcare and preschool program.
She said she has been able to overcome the obstacles with the help of family, friends, Heartline’s Teens ’N Tots program and prayers.
For more information about Heartline Pregnancy Center, call 574-267-5110 or visit heartlinepregnancycenter.org
