Quick response helps pregnancy centers get through recent, serious fiscal crunch

   PORTLAND — At the end of May, a sudden financial crunch at the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Greater Portland threatened to force closure of one of the pro-life ministry’s six centers.
    But as this issue of Christian News Northwest went to press in late June, a quick response by friends of the ministry appeared close to filling the $375,000 fiscal gap that had developed since January.
   “We’re thankful, to say the least,” said Mike Burkesmith, development director for Pregnancy Resource Centers. “It’s all God’s doing.”
    Burkesmith said the deficit had been unexpected. While it is normal for giving to the ministry to slump somewhat during January and February, it normally rebounds as spring approaches.
    But that didn’t happen this year, he said. The downturn in giving apparently corresponded with the overall current challenges facing the economy both locally and nationally, including the drop in the real estate market, the devalued dollar and soaring energy prices.
    Total cash budget for the Pregnancy Resource Centers is $1.9 million, so the $375,000 deficit was indeed serious for an agency that has no major capital holdings to tap into, said Burkesmith.
   “You can see that was a pretty big drop-off for us,” he said. “It was worse than anything that we had seen since a downturn in giving after 9-11.”
    Realizing that if the agency didn’t catch up quickly that it would have to close a center right away, Pregnancy Resource Cent-ers went public about the fiscal crisis in late May. Special announcements were aired on Portland Christian radio station KPDQ and vigorous efforts were made to communicate the need to the ministry’s constituents.
    More importantly, the ministry called for its friends to devote the second week of June to special prayer and fasting for the centers.
   “Our central calling was to wait upon the Lord, and then pray and act,” said Burkesmith.
    He said the quickly developed campaign to address the deficit prompted some supporters of the ministry to step forward and offer some matching fund opportunities as an incentive for new donations.
   “It started the momentum,” Burkesmith said.
    The ministry is one of the larger Christian pregnancy care outreaches in the nation, and serves about 9,000 new clients annually.
   “We’re thankful for each one,” he said. “Our hearts desire has been to serve more.”
   The ministry’s centers are in southeast Portland, Tigard, Milwaukie, Gresh-am, Lloyd Center and Beaverton. More information is available at www.portlandprc.org.