PRC Testimonials

Treehouse moms have been using the ‘Earn While You Learn’ modules since 2004. We have documented more that 1,740 videos watched in the past five years alone. As a teacher by trade, I can tell you how effective these videos are in the lives of our moms. The moms engage and actively participate in each lesson. The videos and corresponding worksheets are easy to follow, yet challenge the moms and sharpen their parenting skills to better the lives of their children. What a gift for a struggling mom! We often joke about children not coming with a manual, but that is exactly what ‘Earn While You Learn’ provides our families.

While there are many great attributes of the ‘Earn While You Learn’ program, flexibility is at the top of the list for our moms. Moms come in on their lunch break, watch while they nurse their newborn, or bring in a partner to also participate in the program. The Treehouse library now contains Infant Care, Parenting By Heart, Life Skills, Special Circumstances, and The Toddler modules – allowing our moms to choose lessons from hundreds of different topics.

We are very grateful for the ongoing efforts of the ‘Earn While You Learn’ staff to create and provide useful, up-to-date material for young families. The Treehouse looks forward to many years of service to our moms and their sweet babies with you by our side.

Blessings,

• Jaleen Claassen
• The Treehouse
• Administrative Director

I am a fairly new director at the Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City. I was the former director of the Care Pregnancy Center of Lenawee in Michigan where we were very successful with our Earn While You Learn Program.

Shortly after coming to this center I began an all out crusade to raise funds to purchase the Main Curriculum of EWYL. In February of 2009, 33 clients were seen at this center. We added the EWYL program in June of 09 and in February of 2010 we saw 137 clients. Our clients love the program and we know that we are helping them to be the best parent they can be.

We are now seeing two teen fathers in our EWYL. We have a male parenting instructor and believe that we will soon have even more young men.

We have written a grant with the purpose to purchase the Parenting Pack, the Spanish Curriculum, and the Men’s Fraternity. We believe that we will be seeing 200 clients a month by the end of the year.

This program not only saves babies lives, but it gives them a quality of life.

• Darlene Davis
• Executive Director
• Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City

We’ve only been at this two weeks, but the response so far is quite “whelming” (not overwhelming)

Clients that have known the “old way” are quite interested in EWYL. One client was specifically asked yesterday what she thought of the new program (she’s been a client for about 1 ½ yrs). She said she thought it was a good idea, then people aren’t just coming in to “get stuff”. ( She has been in twice and scheduled another appointment for next week; she particularly wanted to do the “smoking” lesson).

We haven’t sent out any letters to clients yet. We had contacted clients that were previously on a Furniture Waiting List (probably about 60 clients) by phone. We are doing our best to keep up with the calls and appointments generated by the clients that are calling in. They really seem to want to take part.

We believe that we are seeing the longing that the clients have had to “do something” instead of just “pick up stuff”. (We thought WE were the only ones that didn’t like the ‘handout’ mentality.)

• Barb Rosteutcher
• Crisis Pregnancy Services

The biggest change and really the purpose of this email is to let you know we started EWYL in March and it has just taken off! We have gone from an average of 80-100 clients a month to 246 clients in August! Pregnancy tests have remained steady approximately 50 a month. We have opened a satellite for EWYL only in Prescott Valley on Monday’s, and will be opening another satellite for EWYL only in Chino on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s in about a month. The satellites are located on Church property that two churches have offered to us. They are not permanent and we have to haul everything in and out each day but we have volunteers that are willing to help with this. With the difficult economic times EWYL is helping us to fulfill our mission to Prescott and the quad city area. We are very excited and LOVE the program! We almost have more clients than we can handle and are praying that God will provide us with a bigger and more adequate location. (Our building is literally falling down). We have also adapted the self paced training which has helped us keep up with (the never ending) need to train new volunteers.

We shamelessly adapted much of what you shared with us and the results for our Center have been overwhelmingly positive. We are grateful to God because He has been so faithful. We were in real trouble and He has turned things around. I just wanted you to know that He used you mightily and we are so thankful!!

• Kim Johnson, Board Chair
• Community Pregnancy Center Prescott

Our center implemented the Earn While You Learn program over a year ago. It has been an excellent way to nurture relationships and encourage growth and responsibility to our clients. We have seen many positive outcomes and feel like we are really making a difference in the lives of many families. While the program itself is a wonderful tool, we often struggled with having adequate and quality materials to use. Volunteers were confused with knowing that lessons, videos and homework would be appropriate and how to coordinate all the information into a counseling session that would not only introduce needed parenting skills but also spawn discussion and be reinforced with compatible homework. As a director, I always felt I had to micro-manage each client’s progress to assist the volunteer in knowing where to go next …. NOT ANYMORE!!!

The new EWYL Curriculum has solved many of these struggles. It is very “user friendly” and our volunteers and client love it! Volunteers can quickly and easily find the lesson that will best suit the needs of their client. The lessons are clearly written with accompanying questions for discussion and homework that reinforces the counseling session is provided. The clients enjoy all the handouts and commented that the information was very helpful.

The clients like the continuity and professional outlook of the materials, the volunteers like the confidence it gives them and I like the less frequent interruptions of, “What do I do now with this client?” I strongly endorse this product and encourage you to give it a try – it was exactly what we were looking for!

• Barb Willis
• Wickenburg Pregnancy Resource Center

For at least a year we at the House of Ruth have been planning a new educational program called Earn While You Learn (EWYL).

EWYL, modeled after a program developed by Dinah Monahan of ShowLow, represents a change in how we help our clients. In the past we have emphasized charity on its own: thousands of items have been given to hundreds of needy families. The traffic through our doors has increased every year, to the point that now it is all we can do to get their names and hand them some diapers! The disadvantage of this method of ministry is that it is hard to build relationships with clients, to give them the education and ongoing counseling they need, and to disciple new believers.

Earn While You Learn provides a way for us to educate, counsel, build relationships, and help women truly “plan constructively” for the future. Clients will earn “Mommy Money” by showing up for appointments and watching videos on nutrition, pre-natal health, infant care and development, parenting, etc. She will meet with a counselor and discuss what she learned, and perhaps take home a tape or worksheet or brochure to read, all of which earns more “Mommy Money,” which can be used to “buy” what she needs: clothes, car seats, diapers, cribs and much more. Prices will be reasonable. Centers that use EWYL report that clients feel proud of what they’re learning and enjoy shopping with their earnings.

Please pray for all of our clients as we go through the transition. Our intention is not to make it more difficult to get things but to make it possible for us to meet their real needs, to help them become better parents, to teach them to make healthier choices, and hopefully to make the most important choice of all – to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

• House of Ruth Pregnancy Care
• From a newsletter Cottonwood Arizona

I was first introduced to this program in Venice, Florida. I was amazed at how it truly worked and how the young women loved attending. This is more than a program of learning how to be the best parent you can be, it is a program that allows the centre to show the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The young women of today are in need of all.

Returning to Canada, I felt it would be a positive step for Peterborough Pregnancy Support Centre to share this program. The center is growing in numbers. Since implementing the program, we currently have eight young women who truly enjoy attending the E.W.Y.L. Program. The program is awesome. It allows the building of trust and love with the young women.

One young woman came to the centre for the EWYL Program and stated she had to go to court. I asked if it would be ok if we prayed for her and she accepted. Returning the next week for lessons she stated that we must have prayed a lot for her, for the charges were being dropped.

Another young mother gave her baby up for adoption. Upon her return to the centre she accepted the Lord as her Savior.

I thank God for the Pregnancy Support Centres as well as the EWYL programs. For with the two joining as one, the women have a place to feel safe, and the EWYL program enables them to be the best parent they can be.

I personally thank God that I am a part of the centre and the EWYL Program. Through God we can make a difference in the lives of these young mothers.

• Susan C Jones
• Center Director