Aid for Women is a pregnancy help organization with multiple locations in the greater Chicago area. They have been helping pregnant women for nearly 50 years! Recently, one location in Cicero was forced to close when Catholic Charities in the region closed its office.
However, Aid for Women did not let that setback stop them from serving! They opened a new pregnancy care center in Oak Park, Ill. — and it will also help serve women who would have otherwise visited the Cicero location.
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Oak Park is in Cooke County in Illinois. In Cooke County, 25% of pregnancies end in abortion. Illinois is a destination state for abortion due to the incredibly lax abortion laws. Illinois allows abortion at any time until the “viability” of a woman’s pregnancy. After viability, a woman can still get an abortion if it is to preserve her health — mental health included. A woman can have a single telehealth appointment with a prescriber and get abortion pills mailed to her house.
Additionally, Illinois has NO:
- Waiting period
- Parental involvement for minors
- Parental notification for minors
Aid for Women, formally known as Aid for Women Pregnancy Care Centers & Maternity Homes, faces a daunting political and social climate in and around Chicago. Despite this, their services are sought after more than ever!
In 2024, they saw a 25% increase in use of various services, such as pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, culminating in about 2,000 medical-grade pregnancy tests and 1,000 ultrasounds.
Aid for Women’s eight pregnancy care center locations now include:
- 8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1418, Chicago, IL
- 6145 N. Broadway St., Chicago, IL
- 1515 N. Harlem Ave., Suite 203, Oak Park, IL (NEW!)
- 3347 Vollmer Rd., Flossmoor, IL
- 115 N. Wolf Rd., Wheeling, IL
- 1334 N. Lewis Ave., Waukegan, IL
- 2015 W. Main St., Carbondale, IL
- 1235 N. Mulford Rd., Rockford, IL
These locations provide a multitude of much-needed pregnancy-related services, such as pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, confidential consultations, parenting classes for moms and dads, support groups, mentoring, a baby boutique, medical care referrals, and even Abortion Pill Reversal services.
Tweet This: Aid for Women locations provide a multitude of much-needed pregnancy-related services throughout the Chicago area.
Additionally, Aid for Women has two maternity homes, Monica’s House and Heather’s House. Services in this residential program include:
- A safe and supportive environment to live in while pregnant, parenting, or considering an adoption plan
- One-on-one mentoring
- Pregnancy support
- Parenting training
- Life skills classes
- Employment and educational assistance
- Spiritual growth
- Follow-up services
Susan Barrett, the Executive Director, explains:
“The skilled staff members at our eight pregnancy care centers and two maternity homes find solutions to problems expectant mothers are facing, so they can focus on preparing to parent their child in a safe, stable home or consider the loving choice of adoption.”
Aid for Women has helped thousands of women in their almost 50 years of mission.
Chardonae, who recently welcomed her baby girl Jermoni into her family, states how Aid for Women provided her the support she desperately needed:
“Aid for Women helped me at a time when I felt like giving up…They stepped in and showed me love…I wasn’t judged, and I wasn’t pressured. I was taught skills, and I was given resources. I was given hope and the amount of aid I was given could not amount to a price financially.”
From my previous time at Option Line, I can confirm that Aid for Women is a sorely needed resource. I have referred probably hundreds of women to one of their many locations, and the variety of services they offer helps make a potential visit all the more worth it to a pregnant woman calling for help. She won’t have to go to six different places to get different resources.
Instead, Aid for Women can help her both practically and emotionally in many areas, as well as help connect her to community resources when needed. No pregnant woman has to endure pregnancy or parenting alone or without help. Aid for Women can help educate her, support her, and help her build a community that will be around for the long haul.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought bt state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
