Update: Training for those interested in volunteering at the Charlotte Center for Women will be held Aug. 22 and 29 from 10 a.m. to noon. For more details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
CHARLOTTE — Ever since Brice Griffin came out of a post-abortion Rachel's Vineyard retreat to help her heal from her own abortion, she has wanted to help others avoid making the same deadly mistake.
Griffin, a parishioner at St. Patrick Cathedral and ardent pro-life advocate, is taking her "jump in with both feet" attitude and working toward opening a women's health center on Latrobe Drive in Charlotte, close to the largest and busiest abortion mill in North Carolina. She wants to divert women from A Preferred Woman's Health Center, instead offering them a better way forward than abortion.
Standing on the sidewalk near the Latrobe abortion facility, praying for and counseling abortion-minded women, Griffin has seen license plates from South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and more. From Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014, this abortion mill alone performed 5,610 abortions – more than half the total in Charlotte over that time. Two women had to be taken to the emergency room following abortions at the Latrobe mill, which has the worst record of health code violations in North Carolina. And unlike other abortion facilities in the state, the Latrobe mill does not provide any health care services to women: the private, for-profit business focuses exclusively on chemical and surgical abortions.
Pictured: Stanton Healthcare/Charlotte Center for Women's team is pictured with the speakers from the fundraiser at St. Patrick Cathedral April 23. Pictured are (from left) Dr. Matt Harrison, Ryan Bomberger, Jewels Green, Patrick Mahoney, Brice Griffin and Mike Griffin. (Photo provided by Brice Griffin)
"Charlotte is an abortion destination. My ultimate goal with this new women's center is to completely replace our abortion business in Charlotte," said Griffin. "I want to reach out to these people and tell them that abortion isn't the only answer. I want to give them real options without compromising the life of the child or safety of the mother. I want to make it so we don't even need abortion as a choice for women."
What started as a vision for Griffin is getting closer to reality after partnering with Stanton Healthcare. Inspired by the example of human rights activist and feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it was started in 2006 in Boise, Idaho, by Brandi Swindell. The clinic's free pregnancy services in Idaho became so successful that the nearby Planned Parenthood moved its location away from the Stanton Healthcare center, Griffin said.
"That's what we want to do here. I wanted this in Charlotte, near our abortion clinics. I thought it would be awesome to have that, especially with the abortion pill (RU-486) reversal process gaining momentum. When women walk out of the abortion clinic in tears, regretting what they've done, we'll be there to help them."
After a fundraiser for Stanton Healthcare/Charlotte Center for Women at St. Patrick Cathedral last month drew about 100 people and raised more than $12,000, Griffin said they have enough money to sign the lease on an office space in a retail park near the Latrobe abortion mill. The fundraiser included a large turnout from pro-life advocates not just from the Catholic community, but Protestant congregations in Charlotte as well.
Griffin said the next step toward making Stanton Charlotte a reality is training volunteers to be counselors. Dr. Matthew Harrison, thought to be the first doctor to have reversed a chemical abortion, will be the facility's medical director.
"I think there's a real need for free prenatal care in the Charlotte area," Harrison said. "Stanton Charlotte will give resources and services to the women going to the abortion clinic because they don't have anywhere else to go. We want to have the same types of resources as a crisis pregnancy center, prenatal care and job training to help moms be able to support themselves and their families."
Harrison, who works as an inpatient resident at Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, used to run his own clinic where he offered free prenatal care for abortion-vulnerable women.
"I've been looking for outpatient places to offer these services again, and Stanton Charlotte is a great opportunity," he said. "We want to place the center close to the busiest abortion clinic in town – to have a visible presence right there close to where the people are who need our help the most."
The hours and services for the new Charlotte Center for Women will depend on volunteers, Griffin said. They will start with counseling, free pregnancy tests and being able to offer the RU-486 abortion pill reversal kit, but Griffin said she hopes the center can quickly expand to include ultrasounds, job training and other services.
Griffin said she hopes to have the center open soon and at least operate during the same hours as the nearby Latrobe abortion mill, but she doesn't expect this center to take the place of the persistent sidewalk counseling ministry already in place outside Latrobe.
"I'd like to see the new center open today. It's going to depend on manpower and God's will," she said. "I've spent so much time in prayer for momentum and support on this project. Now we have that momentum and I saw all the support at the fundraiser. I see my prayers answered. I'm ready and chomping at the bit to get started."
Stanton has affiliates in southern California, Ireland, and is working on expanding in Detroit, Alabama and Ghana. The goal is to make Stanton Healthcare as recognizable as Planned Parenthood, Griffin said. Stanton's vision is to replace abortion businesses around the world because they believe that women and their families are entitled to quality, coercion-free care and compassionate alternatives to abortion.
Griffin, who has been active in the local and national pro-life movement, had an abortion in 1998. She has shared her testimony at the March for Life Charlotte and her teenage daughter, Zoe Griffin, shared her experience at this year's March for Life about learning that she had lost an older brother.
"There was no Stanton Healthcare next door, no sidewalk counselors when I walked out from having my abortion," Griffin said. "I suffered for many years with depression and suicidal thoughts."
She said she suffered in silence for nearly a decade until she listened to a homily by Father Larry Richards about confession, in which he urged those who have had an abortion to confess it, because "your child is praying for you in heaven."
"I ran to (my priest) and confessed my abortion and he directed me to Rachel's Vineyard," Griffin said.
"I had no idea so many suffered like I did. Once I realized how many people were out there hurting, I wanted to help. I just jumped in full speed and I haven't been able to slow down."
— Kimberly Bender, cnline reporter
More online
At www.thestantonproject.org/charlotte and www.charlottecenterforwomen.com: Learn more about the project, how you can help as a volunteer or donate
MOUNT AIRY — Sunday Mass was celebrated on the lawn outside Holy Angels Church in Mount Airy Aug. 23 after a suspected arson damaged the parish's worship space.
Mount Airy fire and police are investigating a suspicious fire that damaged the entrance of the parish's Duncan Center, located at 1208 N. Main St., in the early morning hours of Aug. 22. No injuries were reported.
"The evidence points to an intentionally set fire at the front doors of the fellowship hall," said Mount Airy Fire Chief Zane Poindexter.
The fire was set around 3 a.m. at the entrance to the parish hall, which is now used for most Masses. The blaze damaged the overhang and ruined the doors. Gasoline was poured on the front doors and set on fire, said Father Lawrence Heiney, pastor of Holy Angels Church.
"At 10 (minutes) to 4 a.m., I was awoken to the sound of fire trucks," Father Heiney told the Catholic News Herald. "It wasn't particularly startling because I live next to the fire department, but they didn't seem to be going far. By the time I got outside, the flames were out."
The entrance way, door and exterior canopy sustained most of the damage. The sanctuary area was not burned, but it did suffer smoke damage, Father Heiney said. The fire wall between the entrance and the main hall more than likely spared the rest of the building, he added.
The fire caused an estimated $20,000 in damage, Poindexter said.
No damage was reported to the smaller, nearly 100-year-old church located next to the Duncan Center.
The fire was certainly "inconvenient," Father Heiney said, but "it's not majorly traumatic – though it certainly disrupts our routine."
Masses could continue to be held outside or be moved to a neighboring church which has offered Holy Angels' parishioners use of their space while repairs are made, Father Heiney said.
"We can't use the building for services or activities until the smoke is removed and the door replaced," Father Heiney said.
Nothing else needs to be replaced, he said.
Diocese of Charlotte properties officials said the parish's insurer, Catholic Mutual Group, has been notified of the fire and is arranging for a restoration company to clean up the smoke damage.
Mount Airy Police and Fire departments, the State Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms continue to investigate.
"I have no idea who would do this or why," Father Heiney said. "It could be a random person wanting to cause damage. We can't rule anything out."
Parishioners reacted "as expected" and some felt personally assaulted by the event because it's their place of worship, he said.
Holy Angels, one of the northernmost parishes in the diocese, is comprised of about 200 registered families.
— Kimberly Bender, Catholic News Herald. Damage photos provided by Mary Gilreath via Facebook. View more pictures on Holy Angels Facebook Page.
No damage was caused to the nearly 100 year old church.