Carroll pregnancy center featured by KCs.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 Columbia magazine. Kathryn Gamble cover photo, reprinted with permission.

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
A 1-year-old bundle of energy named Wrenlee was the center of attention at New Creation Pregnancy Resource Center in Carroll, Iowa, when she and her mother, Karlee Jones, visited the familiar facility this past December.

“Being a mom is the best thing in the world,” Jones said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want someone to miss out [on motherhood] or feel like they didn’t have any help.”
When Jones faced an unexpected pregnancy and later gave birth to Wrenlee in December 2023, she was in a vulnerable, albeit common, situation.

“I had a lot of emotion,” the 26-year-old mother recalled. “It’s scary to be a new mom and to do it alone, not knowing how I was going to adjust to my new life and provide for her.”

That’s when family friend Jason Schwarte, grand knight of Carroll Council 780, reached out with a lifeline. Schwarte and District Deputy Clay Gubbels, a past grand knight, had been working with several others to establish a new pregnancy resource center in Carroll. The effort was inspired by the council’s longtime support of other pregnancy resource centers in the area, through participation in the Order’s Ultrasound Initiative and ASAP (Aid and Support After Pregnancy) program, which assists nearly 2,000 pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes throughout the United States.

Knight Clay Gubbels is on the center's board.New Creation Pregnancy Resource Center opened its doors in January 2024, featuring a warm and welcoming reception area, office, boutique of baby items and a room for education. The building also includes a rear parking area and entrance for clients seeking privacy.

“I didn’t even know there were centers like this. It’s so welcoming there,” said Jones, who received mentoring from the center’s volunteers and other assistance, such as clothes and baby items.

The center’s services have grown, as has the number of clients it serves. When Jones recently learned that a friend was facing an unexpected pregnancy, she referred her to New Creation, knowing that her friend would find the support that she needs.


BIRTH OF A PREGNANCY CENTER
After the 2022 Iowa State Convention, Council 780 in Carroll raised $10,000 to support three pregnancy resource centers in nearby counties of western Iowa. Half went toward the purchase of a new ultrasound machine for the closest center, Crossroads of Crawford County, located 30 miles west in Denison. The Carroll Knights pondered how they might help establish a center to serve their own rural community of 10,000 people.

“I really love the work we’ve done with the ultrasound machines,” Grand Knight Schwarte told Gubbels, who serves as the Iowa State Council ultrasound chairman. “But I wish we did more for the women who have made the courageous decision to choose life when faced with difficult circumstances.”

That same summer, the Supreme Council announced the ASAP program, and Council 780 immediately got involved. During a visit to the Crossroads center in Denison, Schwarte and Gubbels learned about two fellow parishioners of St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll, Amy Dea and Allison Schoonover, who had long shared the Knights’ goal of serving families in their local community. The group met for the first time in June 2023.

“We threw some ideas around and did some investigating to what it takes to get a center going,” Gubbels recalled.

The center's storefrontWithin a month, a five-member board of directors was in place, and the group applied for 501(c)3 nonprofit status for a new Carroll facility. Gubbels, the board president, contacted a local realtor who found an available space that met the needs of a new pregnancy resource center. The building’s owners even offered a discounted rent in support of the pro-life initiative. Grateful, the group soon got to work cleaning, painting and remodeling the 1,500-square-foot space on the outskirts of Carroll.

“It was exactly what we wanted, and the rent was what we could do,” Gubbels explained. “All five of us pitched in to get the facility ready to serve clients.”

Their dream to establish a local pregnancy resource center came true as New Creation opened last year. An affiliation with Heartbeat International provided the startup with invaluable guidance and training.

“Heartbeat International provided training materials for mentors and volunteers. God walked with us the whole way,” Gubbels said of the affiliation.

Heartbeat International also provided access to an online curriculum called BrightCourse, featuring hundreds of short videos on parenting, relationships and life skills that New Creation clients are encouraged to watch.

“Watching videos is one way for clients to earn points,” Schwarte explained. “Then you can use those points to obtain items out of the boutique — a package of diapers, wipes, formula, whatever is needed.”
Board members Clay Gubbels, Chase Werden, Ashlea Ahrenholtz and Jason Schwarte.Once board members shared the good news about the new pregnancy resource center, the community rallied around the initiative with their time, talent and treasure.

“The feedback we got was outstanding,” said Schwarte, who made personal appeals at each of the churches that make up St. John Paul II Parish and Good Shepherd Parish. “Last year, before the doors opened, we received $5,000 worth of goods — car seats, baby monitors, diapers, wipes and clothing. It was overwhelming.”

Seed money for the center was raised through a variety of events, including a pancake breakfast jointly organized by the local Knights, the Kiwanis Club of Carroll and Iowans for Life. In December 2023, Advent “Giving Trees” placed in two churches yielded more than $5,000 in clothing and other items for the center’s baby boutique.

Further support from Council 780 was supplemented by a grant from the Supreme Council through the ASAP program. At the 2024 Iowa State Convention last May, Council 780 received the Culture of Life Award and Schwarte was named Grand Knight of the Year in recognition of their pro-life efforts.

“A lot of Knights have personally donated,” Schwarte said. “I have taken several $1,000 checks from Knights who wanted to help, and wives have volunteered. I don’t think it would have happened without the support of our local Knights, our parishes and our community.”
One local supporter handed Schwarte $10,000 to cover several months of rent for the new center, while local churches of different Christian denominations also pitched in to raise cash with projects like baby bottle drives. In addition to financial assistance, community groups, organizations and individuals have donated baby blankets, clothing and other supplies.

LIFE-CHANGING SUPPORT
“The thing we ask for the most is prayers — that we’re able to find the people most in need and give them good counsel,” Schwarte said. “We also ask for volunteers and mentors to assist in our daily operations.”

Ashlea Ahrenholtz was sitting in a pew when she heard Schwarte’s plea to help New Creation. She followed up with her own research and prayerful discernment before deciding to step up and be trained as a volunteer, a process that takes several weeks.

“The training [from Heartbeat International] can be self-guided,” explained Ahrenholtz. “However, the center chose to do it in person. It was a lot more personal, and we were able to have hands-on, role-playing scenarios to discuss some vulnerable topics.”

Ahrenholtz, who serves as a New Creation mentor and joined the center’s board of directors in September 2024, recently welcomed a young client with a newborn seeking support and medical insurance for her child.

“I have learned a lot, and it’s very fulfilling to help someone who was expressing a need,” she said.

Ahrenholtz’s message to expectant mothers in need and parents looking for help is one of love and compassion.

“I would tell them you are not alone. You are loved,” she said. “We are here to listen, to help you and to pray for you.”

Another volunteer, Joleen Schulz, whose career was in counseling, welcomed a young pregnant woman who needed maternity clothing, but also wanted to talk about her difficult situation.

“What really surprised me, and I think her too, was that our conversation was very natural,” Schulz recalled. “It actually continued for two hours!”

During their meeting, Schulz provided the client with maternity clothes and explained the variety of resources that were available.
Items at New Creation to help new parents care for their baby.“I told her that we were there to support her not only through her pregnancy, but also beyond, and we’d love to see her back,” Schulz said. “She was happy about that and set up an appointment.”

In 2025, the New Creation board is looking forward to enhancing services for mothers and families, Schwarte noted. As the five board members and 16 active volunteers operate the center on a limited basis, the board plans to hire an executive director to keep the doors open for additional hours.

In the next year, the board will monitor use of ultrasound exams in Denison to determine whether ultrasound equipment is warranted at New Creation. If not, the center could arrange for transportation to the Denison facility for the exam.

After mothers give birth at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll, they will receive a certificate from the center inviting parents to come select items for their baby, including diapers, wipes and clothing.

Spreading the word about New Creation is also a priority, in order to assist more families, women and children.

“I would love for people to learn more about all aspects of the center and that it’s not only about pregnancy,”The community has been generous in contributing cash and items to the center. Ahrenholtz said.

Organizers were advised by directors of other pregnancy centers and Heartbeat International that it would take time to inform the community of the services New Creation provides. Despite being open for just a year, the center is already making a difference in the lives of area children and families.

Clients reaching out to New Creation will experience care and support as they raise their child, said Karlee Jones, the young mother with a toddling 1-year-old.

“I can bring other people going through something similar — being a single mom or having a baby unexpectedly — to the center so they can benefit from those resources,” Jones said. “That’s why I’ve tried to tell people who would benefit from it as much as I can. I’m very thankful for the support that I’ve had.”

This article appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Columbia magazine and is reprinted with permission of the Knights of Columbus, New Haven, Connecticut.