New head of pro-life outreach takes helm as wall separates two sides of moral divide

The Center for Pregnancy Concerns plans to open a new location this summer adjacent to a Planned Parenthood in downtown Baltimore. The building is undergoing extensive rehabilitation. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

ESSEX – One of America’s biggest cultural and moral divides is about to be embodied in a shared wall of two Baltimore buildings with very different missions.

On one side, a long-established Planned Parenthood center will continue offering abortion services.

On the other, a pro-life pregnancy resource center – a newcomer to a blighted section of Howard Street tentatively slated to open in July – will offer women the ongoing support they need to bring their unborn children to term.

Operated by the Center for Pregnancy Concerns (CPC), a nonprofit Christian outreach organization based in Essex, the new Howard Street center will provide free sonograms, pregnancy testing and counseling. It will also offer material assistance, job training, housing and other aid through an extensive referral network.

Gina Ruppert, the CPC’s newly appointed executive director who succeeded Carol Clews in January, noted that the downtown center will be the CPC’s fifth location, including one at St. Ann in East Baltimore and another at St. Rita in Dundalk.

Ruppert, a parishioner of Sacred Heart in Glyndon, sees the newest center’s close proximity to an abortion provider as an unparalleled opportunity to reach out to women who may believe abortion is their only choice.

“We hope that women will consider coming in our door for information on all their options and resources that are available to them before making any decisions,” said Ruppert, a mother of six who holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Frostburg State University.

“We hope they’ll come in and have a sonogram at no cost to them and hear about how we are ready and able to walk with them and help them with our resources,” she said. “We also want women to know that if they’ve had an abortion and are suffering, that we would love for them to come in and talk to us because we have resources for them, too.”

A new pro-life pregnancy center on Howard Street in downtown Baltimore will include an exam room for free sonograms. (Courtesy Center for Pregnancy Concerns)

The Archdiocese of Baltimore provided the CPC a grant from the Annual Appeal for Catholic Ministries to help fund the sonography services at the Howard Street location, Ruppert said. Archbishop William E. Lori is expected to bless and dedicate the new building when it opens this summer.

Sonograms are important for showing women “the truth” of how far along they are in the pregnancy, Ruppert said, and in helping them process what their next steps might be.

“It can make a great impact on a woman to choose life,” she said. “We also know that for some women, it can be a painful experience if they’ve experienced abortion in the past and didn’t have a sonogram to actually see that living baby. And we help them work through that.”

For those who are open to it, the CPC offers spiritual counseling and Bible studies in English and Spanish, Ruppert said.

Ruppert comes to the CPC from Catholic Charities, where she worked as the spiritual development coordinator for St. Vincent’s Villa in Timonium. The Villa provides residential treatment for children, ages 5-14, who have not responded to community-based interventions and who need individualized treatment and therapy, Ruppert said.

She first became involved with the CPC more than 15 years ago through her parish’s respect life group, organizing a fundraising “baby bottle campaign” at Sacred Heart School that benefited the CPC.

Ruppert said the CPC serves mothers of children in the womb through pre-school, women facing unplanned pregnancies and families facing hardships in providing for their babies.

Gina Ruppert, executive director of the Pregnancy for Center Concerns, displays donated children’s clothing that is provided to women in need at the center’s Essex location. (George P. Matysek Jr./CR Staff)

Last year, the CPC served 1,084 clients. Ruppert expects those numbers to jump significantly once the Howard Street location is operational.

The CPC, which also offers a 24-hour-a-day help line, bought the building at 328 N. Howard St. at auction Jan. 19, 2017, for $94,500. Funds for the purchase were donated by two anonymous benefactors, including the man who alerted the CPC about the building’s availability after noticing it was for sale when he was praying outside the Planned Parenthood where abortions are performed.

The CPC conducted a capital campaign that was heavily promoted by the late Deacon Richard “Monti” Montalto, allowing extensive renovations of the dilapidated, 100-year-old former electronics and jewelry store to begin. The project stalled for more than a year, however, because of a lack of resources. An anonymous donor made a substantial contribution that allowed work to resume late last year.

The total cost of rehabilitating the building is expected to approach $1 million, according to Clews.

“Pray that our building goes smoothly and we can open on time and we’ll shine God’s light to each person we meet,” Ruppert said.

Click play below to listen to a radio interview with Gina Ruppert on “Catholic Baltimore.”