Helping Hands stands in the gap for young women

Where does a troubled, anxious young woman turn when she’s facing an unplanned pregnancy?

In Mariposa County and in Oakhurst, she doesn’t have to face those challenges alone.

Helping Hands Pregnancy and Parenting Center offers multiple resources to assist women of all ages. The Christian non-profit all-volunteer organization offers laboratory-quality pregnancy testing and various parenting classes conducted by trained client mentors or client advocates. It also is the home of a “baby boutique” where necessary supplies can be acquired.

All of their services are free, confidential, and available to anyone wishing to receive them, according to Executive Director Jill Althizer, who directs both the Mariposa and Oakhurst centers.

Helping Hands was launched in 1998 in Oakhurst when a group of concerned citizens became concerned about the number of unwed, pregnant young women in the community. Althizer was the executive director from 2009 to 2017. She left for five years and returned to the helm of the ministry in October of 2020. There are center directors at both facilities that run the day-to-day operations.

“We are not a medical center, and we don’t offer professional counseling services, but we’re able to refer our clients to other organizations that offer that level of professional guidance and instruction,” Althizer said. The organization can arrange for ultrasounds that are available free of charge. In Mariposa, clients are referred to the Alpha Pregnancy Health Center in Merced for the procedure.

Helping Hands does offer laboratory-quality pregnancy testing. “We always have young women tell us they don’t really trust the tests available at stores. The tests we provide are 99 percent accurate,” Althizer described.

Helping Hands is a totally self-funded non-profit. It receives no government subsidies or financial assistance. “We are funded by several churches, individuals and some community organizations,” Althizer explained. “Bikers for Christ does a bike run for us each year; we have a baby bottle funding campaign and hold an annual banquet,” she added. Last year’s operating budget was $160,000.

One key element of Helping Hands’ assistance are parenting classes. Classes for parents of newborns, toddlers, and even those struggling with raising teenagers are available. The instructors are all volunteer client mentors who are trained by Helping Hands directors after background checks and faith-based commitments. “We’ve even had a grandmother take one of our classes on parenting teenagers,” Althizer explained, and we always encourage dads to attend. Most volunteers participate at the center one day a week.

“A lot has changed in the last 25 years, and the clients we are trying to reach today are all on their phones. We used to be able to just put something in the yellow pages or signage, but today the clients we want to reach get all their information on their cell phones,” Althizer said.

Althizer said most of Helping Hands’ clientele currently consists of young women in their early 20s, up to their early 30s. “It’s the teenage girls we’re not reaching right now.”

To address that issue, Helping Hands has had two new up-to-date websites created. There is a site for each center. The web address for the Mariposa Center is www.pregnancymariposa.org, and the Oakhurst Center website is available at www.pregnancyoakhurst.org.

“We’ve had an advertising agency work with us on developing these websites so when a person searches about pregnancy, these addresses will come up in their browser,” she added.

Those attending the parenting classes can earn “baby bucks,” which can be exchanged for supplies in the baby boutique. Almost all the supplies available there are donated by businesses, organizations, and individuals. “We have diapers, infant clothing, blankets, baby formula, and baby food. Occasionally we have baby furniture available too,” Althizer said.

Tax deductible donations can be made through either website. Anyone wishing to mail a financial donation can send funds to the Mariposa Center at P.O. Box 513, Mariposa, CA 95338, or to the Oakhurst Center at P.O. Box 3261, Oakhurst, CA 93644.