Manager Louise Erickson is shown with the many donated items available for women and families in need. Photo by Connie Voss

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Caring for Women (CFW), a pregnancy resource center that has been in Gridley since early 2022, moved from its Hazel Street location to 50 East Gridley Road, Suite A. The center will reopen on Feb. 10.

When the Gridley center first opened in 2022, then-manager Penny Derosier said that Caring for Women started in 1986 as a hotline and opened its first resource center in Oroville in 1996. 

“The community saw a need for women who were pregnant and didn’t know what to do,” said Derosier, who later moved to Chico to do pastoral work.

The new office manager, Louise Erickson, gave the Gridley Herald a tour of the facility, located in the recently completed building next to BMO Bank. Gridley Children’s Clinic is in the same building.

Erickson said the new site has better visibility.

A lobby, counseling room and a room full of donations are all furnished and ready to go. 

“We offer everything from free pregnancy tests to physical resources, such as diapers, wipes, maternity clothes, baby (and older kids) clothes, educational materials on abortion and adoption and parenting classes,” Erickson said.

Referrals to community resources are also offered, as well as free ultra-sounds at the Oroville location, in partnership with CareNet of Paradise.

Caring for Women is now located at 50 E. Gridley Road, Suite A, Gridley. Photo by Connie Voss

Caring for Women hopes to offer free ultrasounds at the Gridley location in the future, according to Erickson.

All patrons have access to one-on-one options counseling for those facing unplanned pregnancies.

“If they don’t know what they’re going to do, we get them all of the information on abortion, adoption, caring for and parenting the child,” Erickson said.

The center does not provide or refer for abortions but provides alternatives and education about the procedure.

According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, “60% (of women who get abortions) would have preferred to give birth if they had received more emotional support or had more financial security.” (See https://lozierinstitute.org.)

Caring for Women can help fill those needs, according to Erickson.

Women experiencing post-abortion issues are also encouraged to come in for counseling and healing. 

“All services are free and confidential,” Erickson said. “We just want to meet the needs of the community.”

One-on-one counseling is 100% confidential at Caring for Women. Photo by Louise Erickson

The Gridley Caring for Women Pregnancy Resource Center will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays. For more information, call Caring for Women at 530-649-2315 or visit online at www.CaringForWomenCenter.org.

A 24-hour hotline is available at 530-532-9362.

The Oroville center, which is open 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, is at 2362 Lincoln St., Oroville and the phone number is 530-533-8388. Free ultrasounds are available on Thursdays.

Donations, always welcomed, are accepted at the Caring for Women’s Oroville center.