Programs

  • Program 1 [2020]

    Lighthouse operated three centers full time in 2020 with a staff of 19, and 92 volunteers who donated a total of 3,280 hours of service. A fourth center, which will also serve as lighthouse's headquarters, opened in december 2020. A total of 20,410 service hours were donated by approximately 50 volunteers in 2020 to construct and prepare this new location. The Center's free services fall into three categories: prevention, intervention and restoration. Intervention, the primary focus, includes reaching out to those who are facing unexpected pregnancies with compassionate support to make life choices possible,and ensure parents are equipped to care for their newborns. The Center's support typically begins with an ultrasound to medically confirm pregnancy and provide parents with a loving first look at their unborn child.INTERVENTION: In 2020, Lighthouse provided 832 ultrasounds, along with emotional, spiritual, and material support to parents preparing to welcome a newborn. Lighthouse celebrated the births of over 500 babies to moms they served, and the Center's material aid, educational support, and mentoring assisted 448 parents who were alone, young, under-resourced or uninsured as they faced an unplanned pregnancy. Those coming regularly to become well-prepared parents "earned" points to redeem in the Center's PREP Shoppe for baby care essentials such as diapers and wipes, clothing, and cribs. This ongoing support led to a total of 5,883 individual appointments, in person and by phone due to the pandemic. Most of these were with women and men who found lighthouse on the Internet or by word of mouth, with over 1,800 individuals reaching out to us through "help" calls, texts or emails.Our Paterson Center- which opened in 2015 to serve our state's third largest and one of its most needy cities- features two strategic collaborations. The first is with RENEW Life Center, a nonprofit that subleases space with Lighthouse in Paterson in order to extend additional life-transforming support to parents from poverty backgrounds. In the past five years, 90 women and men have graduated from RENEW's "Getting Ahead" program and have done just that-obtaining significant employment or continuing their education. Our shared goal for the Center is to help parents thrive-not just survive-after choosing life for their children. A program launched more recently is YoungLives Paterson, an outreach that shares the hope of the gospel and practical help with teen moms. In partnership with Young Life, Lighthouse hosts pregnant and parenting teens once a month for a youth group-like Club, and for mentoring and other supportive activities. Our group has helped birth two other groups throughout the Tri-State area. Fathers are not forgotten as we have a number of faithful male volunteers to mentor and encourage the young men who want to learn how to be involved, responsible dads. Nearly half of these services are provided in Spanish.The Center's Hackensack location is utilized up to 5 days a week, serving a similar number of men and women to Paterson, but in half the space! Having outgrown the facility in Hawthorne which opened in 2007, Lighthouse relocated its main office to donated space in Wayne in the fall of 2016. In 2020, the Wayne location was open five days a week for office work, and several days to serve parents in need. Until the new headquarters opened in Decmber 2020, Lighthouse was utilizing five off-site storage locations to handle generous material aid donations, which support families.PREVENTION: Lighthouse provides free screening for two of the major STDS (Chlamydia and gonorrhea) that are more prevalent among young adults. We will begin offering treatment in 2022. In addition to providing sexual health and sexual integrity counsel at the centers, the center's REALife Relationship and Love Training program provided interactive presentations in local schools and church youth groups, guiding over 1,817 students to healthier relationships.RESTORATION: After-abortion healing groups and individual peer counseling sessions helped women and men of all ages recover emotionally and spiritually from past abortions. In 2020, 179 individuals benefited from this support.NEXT STEPS: With all centers operating at or beyond full capacity, the Board of Lighthouse had identified the need for a large headquarters and expanded ministry location. In 2019, the Board found a property which met all their requirements for the new space: 297 Lafayette Ave, a vacant medical facility in the center of Hawthorne. Lighthouse purchased this 10,800-sf, two-story building on September 30, 2019, and soon after began a year-long renovation project and a fundraising effort to transform the main floor into a state-of-the-art pregnancy center to make life support available to more people, and host transformative group programs. Second-floor apartments provide rent to help pay the mortgage and offer space for expanded ministry in the future. In December 2020 the Center opened this much-needed headquarters to increase our ability to save and change more lives!
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $896K

  • Lighthouse Support Services for Parents

    Lighthouse operated four centers full time in 2023 with a staff up to 26, and over 150 volunteers who donated a total of 10,372 hours of service. The fourth center, which serves as lighthouse's headquarters, opened in December 2020. A group program,"Birth of a Family", was launched there in 2021 to guide parents toward marriage and stronger families. The Center's free services fall into three categories: prevention, intervention and restoration. Intervention, the primary focus, includes reaching out to those who are facing unexpected pregnancies with compassionate support to make life choices possible, and ensure parents are equipped to care for their newborns.The Center's support typically begins with an ultrasound to medically confirm pregnancy and provide parents with a loving first look at their unborn child.INTERVENTION: In 2023, Lighthouse provided 1,120 ultrasounds, along with emotional, spiritual, and material support to parents preparing to welcome a newborn. Lighthouse celebrated the births of over 550 babies to moms they served, and the Center's material aid, educational support, and mentoring assisted 674 parents who were alone, young, under-resourced or uninsured as they faced an unplanned pregnancy. Those coming regularly to become well-prepared parents "earned" points to redeem in the Center's PREP Shoppe for baby care essentials such as diapers and wipes, clothing, and cribs. This ongoing support led to a total of 8,076 individual appointments. Most of these were with women and men who found lighthouse on the Internet or by word of mouth, with over 2,600 individuals reaching out to us through "help" calls, texts or emails. Nearly half of all our services are provided in spanish.Our Paterson Center- which opened in 2015 to serve our state's third largest and one of its most needy cities- features two strategic collaborations. The first is with RENEW Life Center, a nonprofit that subleases space with Lighthouse in Paterson to extend additional life-transforming support that helps parents overcome generational poverty. Since 2015, over 180 women and men have graduated from RENEW's "Getting Ahead and Jobs for Life" programs and have obtained significant employment or continued their education. Our shared goal for the Center is to help parents thrive-not just survive-after choosing life for their children. Another collaborative program is YoungLives Greater Paterson, an outreach that shares the hope of the gospel and practical help with teen moms. In partnership with Young Life, Lighthouse hosts pregnant and parenting teens once a month for a youth group-like Club, and for mentoring and other supportive activities. Our group has helped birth two other groups in the Tri-State area. Fathers are not forgotten as we have two full-time male staff and a number of faithful male volunteers to mentor and encourage men who want to become involved, responsible dads. The Center's Hackensack location is utilized up to 5 days a week, serving a similar number of men and women to Paterson, but in half the space! Lighthouse also provides pregnancy confirmation, parenting and STD services in Wayne using donated professional office space on Hamburg Turnpike.PREVENTION: Lighthouse provides free screening for two Bacterial STDS (Chlamydia and gonorrhea) that are most prevalent among young adults. In addition to providing sexual health and sexual integrity counsel on-site, the Center's REALife Relationship and Love Training program provided interactive presentations in local schools and church youth groups, guiding over 2,734 students to healthier relationships.RESTORATION: Abortion recovery care groups and individual peer counseling sessions helped women and men of all ages to heal emotionally and spiritually from past abortions. In 2023, 227 individuals benefited from this support.NEXT STEPS: Lighthouse has been utilizing all of its new Hawthorne headquarters, including a second-floor apartment, to expand the programs and support available to under-resourced families and young or single parents taking on the challenge of raising the next generation. Our newest program, "Birth of a Family" brings together volunteer family coaches and Lighthouse parents in our Hawthorne Center every Wednesday for a meal, childcare and discussions about healthy relationships, marriage and parenting. We continue to research additional locations where our confidential, compassionate services and support are needed for those facing unexpected pregnancies. We want to do all we can to build healthy families in our community!
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $1.6M