Breaking News
Local News

Pregnancy help clinic sees growth in visits

New law could help provide more resources

By Jill Schramm 6 min read

A new income-tax break for donations to pregnancy help centers could help entities such as Dakota Hope Clinic in Minot, which reports a growing demand for services at its three locations.

The growth is both in numbers of clients and numbers of visits, Executive Director Nadia Smetana said.

"So far this year, we're on track to see at least an 11 percent increase in numbers of clients," she said. "Many of our clients visit many times, especially when they are in the Earn While You Learn Program. We are on track now, as of the end of November, to have a 39 - almost a 40 - percent increase in the number of visits that we have to handle. So that has stressed our staff. We do need more staff."

Smetana said it is difficult to gauge at this point whether Dakota Hope can expect increased donations from the new credit approved by the 2023 Legislature. North Dakota taxpayers can claim a credit of up to $2,500 or 50% of their tax liability, whichever is less.

"I think, so far, a lot of people just don’t know about it," Smetana said. "We haven’t had a lot of feedback on whether they’re using it or not."

Many donations to Dakota Hope at this time of year are coming through the Twice Blessed Campaign of Inspiritus. Smetana said those donations, although processed through another entity, do count toward the tax credit. Those who donate in 2023 will receive a receipt in January that lists their totals, but Smetana said people also can call to find out the status of their giving or request an early receipt.

Dakota Hope also is in need of more donations after opening a second satellite clinic this year. It opened its Tioga clinic in 2022 and its Bottineau Clinic this year.

"We had enough resources to do that. But in order to sustain it, we do need increased resources, because we will have to hire more staff. We just hired a nurse in Bottineau. We're very excited about that," Smetana said.

The satellite clinics provide all the same services as the Minot clinic, including Earn While You Learn courses that offer the ability to earn baby and toddler items.

Smetana said the clinic welcomes both donated supplies and cash toward the baby boutiques, with cash being particularly useful in providing larger items, such as new car seats or cribs. Donated supplies qualify for the tax credit if purchase value is provided.

The educational program can help families struggling financially but the biggest benefit is the knowledge gained, Smetana said.

"We’ve had women and men come in who don’t really need the items, but they just need the information that they learn when they complete the lessons," she said. "We’ve had people come through it that have had children before, but they say they learned so much from these educational lessons."

The lessons also include life skills, such as how to have healthy relationships, buy a car or make a budget. The lessons, which include videos and discussion questions, can be completed at home or in the clinic at the user's pace. The clinic keeps in touch with the remote participants to discuss what they are learning and offer a sounding board for feedback.

"Our goal is to get enough volunteer advocates on board so that we can communicate with them more regularly," Smetana said. "Right now we’re kind of short on volunteers."

Donations to Dakota Hope support operations, including space rent, insurance and staff salaries necessary to provide the services. All donations ultimately go toward helping clients, Smetana said.

"We try to, first of all, be a safe place - a safe and encouraging place where women and men can come if they have an unexpected or challenging pregnancy. Our door is open in a nonjudgmental way," she said. "We will keep everything confidential. They can come and find a safe place to talk to a professional nurse, licensed in North Dakota, and she can get a free pregnancy test and a free ultrasound."

Clients also can discuss their options.

"There is a need for a place that they can go to talk about all their options and not feel ashamed and not feel embarrassed," Smetana said. "We wouldn’t presume to tell anyone what to do, but we know that women want to be fully informed about all their options when they’re making a pregnancy decision. Sometimes it’s the man that comes in first or, hopefully, the father of the baby will come in with his partner and they can make the decision together."

About half of clients are considered at-risk for choosing abortion, Smetana said. For those who inquire, the clinic will discuss abortion.

"But we are a life affirming organization," she added. "We find out why they are interested in an abortion and help them understand that there are resources available to help with those reasons."

For those who find themselves in a challenged pregnancy because of domestic abuse, Dakota Hope offers a faith-based program called Her Journey that is designed to help women heal and decide what to do when in an abusive relationship. Several women have completed that program in the past two years, Smetana said.

"We don’t turn our back on any woman that has an abortion. We let them know that our door is always open to them," she said. For women who are dealing with mental health and related issues following abortions, Dakota Hope offers a Discover Peace course to work toward healing.

Going into 2024, Dakota Hope wants to offer additional education on reproductive health, both at the clinic and in the community. Smetana said the goal is to educate women about their bodies before they become sexually active and teach them to protect themselves from unexpected pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. It also will be directed at helping parents provide that education for their children.

If the state tax credit proves to be a significant help going forward, it would mean being able to hire more staff, serve more clients, add services such as sexually transmitted disease testing and provide more preventative programs, Smetana said.

For 2024, the focus will be sustaining the three clinics. Although no expansions into additional rural areas are planned next year, Smetana said it is not ruled out for the future if resources become available.

"There's a big need in northwest North Dakota, north central North Dakota," she said.

Starting at /week.