Guiding Star Wakota opened last month in a new 10,000-square-foot facility at 1140 S. Robert St. in West St. Paul. MARIA WIERING | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
It’s at the same site in West St. Paul, but beginning Dec. 14, emergency pregnancy services center Guiding Star Wakota opened a new, larger facility that will help it offer more services for pregnant women and their families in Dakota and Ramsey counties, said Dan Saad, executive director. The 10,000-square-foot facility expands capacity fivefold.
Family planning and other education classes continue, as well as core services such as free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. But the new facility has three exam rooms and a lab, three counseling rooms, areas for training and education, a chapel for staff and clients, space for material assistance (diapers, wipes, clothing for babies and moms) and a supervised play area for children while parents receive services.
Sister Jeanne Therese Condon, a sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, founded the original Total Life-Care Centers organization (now Elevate Life) in 1976, with the Wakota location one of the first sites. Services expanded in 2016 when it became an affiliate of the national Guiding Star Project, which moved it from addressing basic physical needs of at-risk women and their families to also offering education.
Saad said Guiding Star is focused on four service areas — natural fertility/family planning, pregnancy/childbirth, breastfeeding/postpartum and family life. Since 2017, Guiding Star Wakota has offered classes in those areas. With its expanded capacity, the facility now offers mental health services. The organization is also considering developing prenatal exercise classes and post-partum mental health support, and offering lactation specialists and doula services, Saad said. An on-site physician is developing medical services for wellness care and for treating sexually transmitted diseases.
Counseling provided on site can address issues such as setting boundaries in relationships, dealing with grief and loss, life stressors and anxiety. A life coach for fathers helps them strengthen relationship and parenting skills and set life goals.
Saad, 59, a parishioner of St. Michael in Prior Lake, said that while Guiding Star Wakota is not a Catholic organization, it is “life-affirming” with a mission that aligns with the Church.
Private donations and grants paid for the $3.2 million building.
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