Special Guest: Malora Forrey CEO, Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Everett
The Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Everett has an amazing baby boutique, where patients can earn points by mastering the learning programs, and shop for adorable baby items. It doubles up as a hub for the community to bond together and receive support. And that’s not all! The clinic also has weekly mom squads, birthing and parenting classes, and a program that dads can join in too. They happily accept donations, especially new or gently used goodies. Let’s get those little ones snuggled up!
Catch hope & encouragement with Erica on weekday mornings from 5:00 AM – 10:00 AM, and Sundays from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Erica:
It’s more than a place where you can find onesies and diapers for your baby. It’s a place where you can make a connection to your community. Talking about the Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Everett and Malora, the CEO is joining us today. Welcome to SPIRIT 105.3. I heard a little birdie told me that you’re running a little low on a few things in your baby boutique. What do you all need right now?
Malora:
Right now, we are low on newborn diapers, size three diapers, warm clothes for both boys and girls size 12 months to 24 months. We provide a lot of services, really tangible service needs for our community, and we do that through our baby boutique patients and people who come into the clinic can receive points. It’s kind of a learning program, and they can receive points for all their completed classes so that they can shop in our baby boutique. We want to be able to have all those things available when a mom or a dad comes in to shop. It’s really hard for us to have to tell them we’re out of those sizes. So that’s where we are right now.
Erica:
So Malora, when somebody donates a pack of newborn diapers or a nice warm sweater for a little baby, what is actually happening? What does God do with those things?
Malora:
Yeah, the boutique is just this amazing place for us to build relationship with our community. They come in, they have a need, and we quite regularly hear a mom say, this place is so cute. I can’t believe that you put this together for me. And we have moms that come in. We have volunteers who work in the boutique and four hour shifts every week. And we have moms that come in many times, just to make connection with that boutique volunteer. They feel loved and cared for, and just to be able to shop and get some really cute things and not have to pay for them with paper money. They get to learn more new things about being a mom or a dad, and then they get to shop, and they’re building relationships.
We had a mom that came in recently, she was near the end of her pregnancy and she didn’t really have a lot for her new baby’s arrival. So again, we talked to her about our incentive learning program and we gave her this introductory shopping experience so she could take home some diapers and some other things. And that relationship time, during the course of those conversations, we learned that she was new to the area. She didn’t have any friends or family to throw her a baby shower, and this happens quite regularly. So, we like to have a generous gift to provide them. And we blessed her with this brand new fully stocked diaper bag. And she was told that it was a gift from a local church that wanted her to know that she and her baby are loved. And it’s really likely that that grateful mom later found a handwritten note put in the bag by a child who helped assemble the bag. So, this is just the first step to building relationship with her and watching her and her baby grow because she can come back to our weekly mom support groups, earn more points, shop again, birthing and parenting classes. She can attend those. Shop again. These moms are building relationships within our community through the PRC.
And we have a program for dads too. So, we know that strong fathers make strong families. And so, in addition to those birthing and parenting classes that they can attend as well. They can receive points for online learning that we make available to them, and they can shop anywhere in the boutique, including a dad’s corner that we’ve created just for them. A fun story that I really love is we have this single dad who has come to the clinic and is being mentored and taking classes. He’s super hardworking, and when he’s low on diapers, or he needs a size update for his baby, he gives us a call and then we get to shop for him and put together a package that he can pick up on his way home from work.
Erica:
Oh Malora, I just love the work that you all do. And I have to say, I think it’s wonderful that you call your shop a boutique. What was the thought behind that?
Malora:
Well, hey, I am a thrift shopper. I love thrift shopping, but I didn’t want the place where our patients shop to feel like a thrift shop. Many of our things are gently used. We take a lot of time going through all the donations that we receive, from preemie to up to 2T, and we keep the cream of the crop. We also have great partners like Little Bipsy down in Edmonds who just will gift us beautiful brand new things for our moms to shop. And churches sometimes have baby showers and they bring us bags and bags of things that you would pick to a normal baby shower, that they’re brand new that we can put in the boutique, for moms and dads to shop and find. But it sounds special. A boutique sounds way special than thrift store.
Erica:
Yes, I’d agree. And that’s one of the reasons I love it, and I just want to hug you through the phone. And thank you for everything you’re doing to catch the spirit, Malora, CEO of the Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Everett. Thank you for hanging out with us on SPIRIT 105.3.
Malora:
Thank you, Erica.
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