In the autumn of 1982, a small group of concerned men and women embarked on the journey of starting a program to help women in a crisis pregnancy who felt forced to make a life and death decision on their own.

The foundation for the Women's Care Center is a story of vision and faithfulness. A continuing story of how God placed a simple desire into the hearts of a few people, which has grown into a multi-faceted mega pregnancy center, unique in the nation. Under the leadership of Brenda Newport, Executive Director since 1986, the Center has expanded from a small inner city storefront at 18th and Parade Streets, to a nine-office, multi-service agency.

Serving Erie County and the surrounding tri-state region, five agency divisions provide free and confidential crisis pregnancy services, prevention education, adoption alternatives, obstetrical care, and even a women's upscale resale boutique called My Sister's Closet.

“We provide outreach and prevention services in almost every school district in Erie County,” says Newport. “A variety of age-appropriate, risk avoidance programs are used. We are very excited about “Carington's Wild Character Adventure,” our in-house produced character education curriculum which has a unique service learning twist. Building character is foundational to preventing all risk behaviors.”

Adoption by Choice was founded in 1993 as a division of the Women's Care Center with the purpose of helping young women to be more involved with the selection of adoptive parents and design their baby's adoption. As a result, hundreds of young women have designed an adoption for their baby over the past two decades. Her needs are always respected and “the plan is always just a plan, able to be changed at any time, until it becomes a promise when she decides to go forward with the placement with her couple of choice,” Mrs. Newport explains.

The Center provides obstetrical services for qualifying women without insurance by a staff of medical professionals, as well as community childbirth and newborn care classes, and lactation support. The WCC Medical Services opened in 2004 and has provided care to over 1100 patients.

“It is our primary goal to ensure that everyone who needs our services finds us as a place of love and support. It is our goal to be a partner in overall community wellness and assist as an agent of change for emotional healing, character development and family stability,” proclaims Mrs. Newport.