A Missouri-based group of pregnancy help medical clinics is expanding to have a multi-state impact and serve women in the post-Roe v. Wade world.
With four physical locations in the Kansas City, Mo., metropolitan area, and a virtual center serving clients online, Resource Health Services served over 3,000 people in 2024. Now, Resource Health is increasing its reach with a fifth brick-and-mortar location in Kansas City, Kan.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
Meeting moms' needs
Resource Health’s core program for mothers is Mom Strong. In addition to a mother’s physical needs, through the program they care for her emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. This is done through material support, one-on-one mentorship, and church mentorship.
One of Resource Health’s clients, a mother named Ebony, experienced the trauma of homelessness, domestic violence, and sexual abuse in quick succession. She had an abortion with an unplanned pregnancy but found herself unexpectedly pregnant again six months later.
Facing such hardship, Ebony turned to Resource Health for support and was put at ease by the staff.
“I felt very safe, I felt heard, and I felt loved,” she said.
The center had the opportunity to step up further in support of Ebony once the center’s nurse began performing Ebony’s ultrasound.
Ebony first experienced shock upon viewing the ultrasound screen.
“I looked at the monitor and I said, ‘Is that two heads?’” she recalled.
Ebony was expecting twins. Once the shock subsided, she felt elated.
Resource Health walked alongside her during and after her pregnancy, and continues to support her today.
"We’re not looking for repeat customers"
The equivalent of Mom Strong for men is Resource Health’s fatherhood program: Dads Matter. The curriculum covers topics like co-parenting, attachment, child abuse prevention, and anger management.
“We’re very focused on seeing those dads becoming the healthiest, best dads they can be,” CEO Alissa Gross told Pregnancy Help News.
The fatherhood program has helped many men step into their roles as fathers. And by connecting women to mentors, Resource Health aims to have them grow into confident and self-sufficient mothers.
“It’s a little different in this industry,” said Gross. “We’re not looking for repeat customers. Our dream is that they never walk through our doors again.”
It takes a lot of staff to make Resource Health’s initiatives happen. Gross has learned much about staffing over the years. While she recognizes the value of a volunteers in operating a center, and Resource Health itself was volunteer-powered for years, she says having staff who are “living and eating and drinking our culture” makes a difference when it comes to client care.
“It can be really difficult to understand the culture of an organization when you’re only there a few hours a week,” she explained.
Resource Health still uses volunteers for non-client-facing positions, but the front-line client advocates are all employees.
A new frontier for serving women in Kansas
Resource Health expanding into Kansas is especially significant in the Dobbs era.
Unlike Missouri, where Resource Health has operated for years, Kansas is an abortion destination state. Kansas has seen a 146% increase in abortions in the past four years - not including those abortions committed by the abortion pill.
In the face of such a harsh reality, Resource Health is choosing to go straight into the heart of the battle. Their fifth location will soon open in the De Soto community in the Kansas City, Kan., metropolitan area. And while Kansas City, Kan., is only a few miles away from Kansas City, Mo., the new center will be strategically located near the border of Kansas and Missouri, not far away from a major university and within driving distance of an abortion facility.
Tweet This: Resource Health Services is choosing to go straight into the heart of the battle and open a pregnancy center in an abortion state.
Fighting abortion is an “uphill battle,” Gross said, and Resource Health is fully engaged.
Gross urges pro-life advocates to get involved in the pregnancy help movement in some way, even if it is through donating to pregnancy help centers. Other ways to get involved include supporting foster families and adoptive families.
“Not everyone is called to be in the trenches, and that’s okay,” said Gross, “but everyone is called to do the work of the Kingdom. And we know life is core to that.”
Demonstrating a life-affirming culture
“We believe strongly here at Resource Health that you destroy the cultural narrative on the other side by doing things in the opposite spirit,” Gross said.
When opponents began referring to pregnancy help centers as pseudo-medical centers, Resource Health put RNs in each one of their centers. They also created a medical advisory board to oversee their operations.
While abortion proponents accuse the pro-life movement of being merely “pro-birth,” Resource Health connects women with mentors that will support them long after their child’s birth.
“I’d love to see pro-lifers across the board be willing to do that, as well,” Gross said.
As a major source of pregnancy help that is expanding in its regional area Resource Health Services, Gross says they want to use their influence to change the culture.
“We really believe that one of the greatest ‘products’ that Planned Parenthood sells is victimhood,” she said. “And so, we’re looking for one of our greatest products to be empowerment.”
