Saying Yes to God’s Leading

The last few years have brought significant changes to many of God’s servants. Heather Goodbread is no exception. Three years ago, she didn’t know much at all about The HOPE Center. But when a deacon at her church invited her to a banquet celebrating the center, she wanted to learn more. Now, she’s serving as the Center Director.

Her journey with The HOPE Center began shortly after the banquet – she wanted to consider volunteering. With over 10 years of experience working with new mothers as a lactation consultant, Heather thought her skills might be useful. Her expertise included breastfeeding, infant feeding, sleep education, supporting mothers, and working with mothers in the home.

Maria Douglas, the Volunteer and Education Manager, was eager to bring Heather on board. Maria encouraged Heather, alleviated any concerns she had, and gave her practical advice for moving forward. Early in 2020, Heather began volunteering as an advocate. Advocates are the front-lines volunteers who typically meet one-on-one with Options Medical Clinic and HOPE Center clients. Heather started to hit her stride and feel comfortable and confident working with women and families. When COVID hit, Heather felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under her. She was overjoyed when they were finally able to bring women back into the center.

Despite this joy, changes in her personal life and work were affecting her availability for volunteering. So she went back to Maria to discuss her options. And, once again, Maria encouraged and challenged her—this time to step into a whole new role. She reminded Heather that the Center Director position was open, and asked Heather to send in her resume.

Heather hadn’t considered employment with the Center could be the solution to balancing her work needs and her desire to volunteer with a ministry she

was so passionate about, but she prayed about the opportunity. She felt the Lord saying, “This is where I want you.” Everything fell into place from there. Heather has a vision for building community and offering resources. She hopes to support advocates as they direct resources to families in need. She also wants to connect with more churches and bring community support to the families.

In her previous roles, Heather primarily worked with women from immediately after their baby’s birth to when their children were around age three. This gave her a front-row seat to the “loss of community” many parents experience after the birth of a child. Heather knew COVID had only made that isolation worse. She regularly saw mental health struggles and parenting strains affecting new parents.

With The HOPE Center’s doors open again, Heather wants to make it a place of community that assures parents they aren’t alone. She hopes it can provide community internally with the advocates, as well as connect parents to the larger church and local community. She even hopes to facilitate relationships between parents in similar circumstances who can journey side by side.

Before stepping into the Center Director role, Heather led breastfeeding classes at The HOPE Center. She loved seeing the women in the classes engage with each other and share stories. They took comfort in having similar questions and experiences. Heather believes classes like this can be a key part of building community. Currently, the Center is offering monthly birthing classes. Local doulas lead these classes, and attendees regularly give glowing feedback. The moms are gaining resources and information, learning how to advocate for themselves in the hospital, and creating a natural foundation for community by doing it alongside other moms.

The HOPE Center recently sent out surveys to families they serve asking about their specific needs and interests. Topics like budgeting, job preparation,

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and parenting topped the list. These topics lend themselves well to a class format, and Heather hopes to bring in local professionals to offer training and support.

Of course, Heather isn’t doing all of this alone. She leads the advocates, who in turn support the clients. Maria is still offering support and encouragement to volunteers, just like she did for Heather. And Sandi Welborn, The HOPE Center’s Community Care Coordinator is the point person when a family has a need, whether it’s connecting them with a church, a housing resource, or a reliable auto repair company. Whenever possible, Sandi gets families the help they need within a few days of their request.

Life has certainly changed for Heather in the past three years, but she’s found an incredible community among her fellow staff members and volunteers. Now she’s helping create community for families who find themselves facing life changes of their own.

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The ODell Agency is proud to partner with The HOPE Center as they faithfully and diligently serve our community. It is a blessing to be able to see the lives that they are touching and the impact that they are making! We are honored to be a part of this life changing movement!