Choices

Did you know that when you Google the word “choice,” more than one BILLION results pop up?

Choices are everywhere – from the grocery store to our closets, to career paths, and to Netflix. Having a choice is defined as “the opportunity or power to choose between two or more possibilities.” 1 Studies show that adults make approximately 35,000 decisions every single day.” 2

It’s obvious that we are surrounded by choices. But perhaps what matters even more than the choice itself, is our ability to actually have a choice. There can be all the options in the world, but if you have no power to actually pick one, you do not have a choice at all.

We think about choices a lot at Alpha Women’s Center of Grand Rapids (AWC). Our donors can choose programs to fund, events to sponsor, or items to provide. Our volunteers can choose where to get involved: as mentors, teachers, cooks, or childcare providers. However, the most important choices are the ones that our clients make.

It is incredibly important to us to offer as many options as possible to each and every woman who walks through our doors. She can choose what she wants (or doesn’t want) to talk about in a mentoring session. She can choose which educational classes she wants to take or choose to attend our Single Mom’s Support Group. She can choose items from our store such as baby clothes, diapers, and formula.

A woman also has choices when she is pregnant. You are probably very familiar with them: abortion, adoption or parenting. However, knowing that a choice exists and being empowered to make a choice are two different things. That is why AWC offers counseling options to anyone facing an unplanned pregnancy as well as compassionate support throughout the decision-making process.

At AWC we value privacy, safety, and the right to choose. Our goal is to provide a place where people can receive expert care and walk away feeling empowered and loved.

Our next three blog posts will focus on the choices of abortion, adoption and parenting. We will explore each choice, discuss the potential side effects, and learn about the obstacles women face in making an informed decision.

1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/choice
2 http://go.roberts.edu/leadingedge/the-great-choices-of-strategic-leaders