The pregnancy resource center, formerly known as CareNet Redding in Redding, California, recently rebranded itself as NorthState Care Clinic to better represent its capacity. A tremendous driving force in this rebranding was due to the mobile clinic they will launch this year, expanding the clinic’s reach far beyond its city. Thanks to the Stork Bus NorthState Care Clinic can now serve six counties in Northern California. In 2022 NorthState Care Clinic served 985 clients for medical services and education. Women and men attended 1,643 classes on labor & delivery, nutrition, parenting, fatherhood, and post-pregnancy loss. Five women changed their view on abortion and chose life after their visit in 2022. NorthState Care Clinic’s Executive Director, Wendy Reasner, projects that these numbers will grow with the addition of the mobile medical unit in 2023.
Wendy Reasner sat down with us to tell the miraculous story of how the NorthState Care Clinic acquired its mobile medical unit. Despite Reasner’s initial resistance and the funding needs they faced, God orchestrated all of the details. The new Stork Bus means future mothers, babies, and families can access the services they need to choose life.
How did you first hear about Save the Storks Mobile medical unit?
I had a volunteer here from Oregon who had worked on their local mobile medical bus. She asked me if we had ever considered getting a mobile medical unit at our location, and I told her no. A week later, some people came to visit from Sidewalk Advocates asking how they could help. Again, they asked me if I had ever considered getting a mobile bus. I told them this was the second time someone had told me about them but that I still wasn’t considering it for our location. About two weeks later, I spoke with one of my pastors, and he mentioned that if we were thinking about doing the mobile bus, he would love to help us make it happen. I thought, ‘Oh no, I have to do something with this.’
This was the third time someone had mentioned the Stork Bus to me. Jesus often speaks to me in threes. Three very different people had brought it up to me. I talked to Sidewalk Advocates, and they told me to connect with Save the Storks. We got on a call with Save the Storks, and they told me they could give me a 25K scholarship. With all of my experience, this sounded too good to be true. I wasn’t familiar with Save the Storks, so I was baffled about what was happening. They introduced me to the partner application and told me to apply online. When I saw the partner application, I knew it would take me hours to apply. Since I was still unfamiliar with Save the Storks, I put the application off for months.
But this isn’t where the story ends.
I went to a retreat in May. At this retreat, we weren’t allowed to talk about work, only Jesus. I thought this was a bummer, but I probably needed a break. At the end of this three-day retreat, I am walking the beach with a woman, and she starts talking about the Stork Bus they had. I thought, ‘Am I allowed to talk about work now?’ She was the one who brought it up out of nowhere. She went on and on and on and on about this mobile medical unit from Save the Storks. She talked about how great of an organization it was.
Later in the day, after lunch, the same thing happened. I was walking on the beach with another director, and she began talking about her Stork Bus. I did not ask these people about it. It felt like God was allowing me to be refreshed on this retreat, and he was making sure that I knew that He trusted this organization. He used these two women I respected to nudge me in the right direction. I asked them both questions, and I knew then that God was telling me to fill out the partner application. This was mid-2021. We signed the agreement around November 2021 and started the action plan with Save the Storks.
We had ONE event where we let people tour the bus from Oregon and got two significant donations from people. Besides this, we also sent out ONE card asking for donations. From this moment in April until October, every single dollar came in without us asking. Money started pouring in inexplicably. People would come into our center randomly and hand me a check. Then Save the Storks let us know somebody wanted to fund half of our bus!
At this point, we only had half the money to fund. We were thinking, ‘This won’t happen until the end of next year.’ God had a different timeline. Around the fourth of July, I got a call from the head of Sidewalk Advocates in Redding. They told me someone was on the line who wanted to fund whatever money remained for us to pay for the bus. It made no logical sense to me.
How will the Save the Storks mobile medical unit impact your Pregnancy Resource Center and city?
We serve a 90-mile radius east, north, and west and 60 miles to the south. We are the only people doing what we do in this space. There is a pregnancy center in Mt. Shasta and Red Bluff that is not medical. We plan to help them give ultrasounds to their clients with the mobile medical unit. Many people in the surrounding small towns can’t get to Redding. There is a barrier for them to get here, to get any help or resources.
This is why we plan to work with Embrace Grace. Embrace Grace is a national charity partnering with local churches to empower and support single mothers and families. We want to work with church groups in these rural towns with Embrace Grace groups. Therefore, when we go into a city on a Tuesday and see a pregnant woman, we have somebody who lives close to them who can help. Someone to give them rides, support them, invite them to bible study, and love and care about them. If we see somebody who comes to Redding, we will give them one of the Embrace Grace love boxes containing the information of someone they can contact for support.
How will the Stork Bus affect your local abortion clinics?
There is an abortion clinic and a Planned Parenthood in town. We are hoping to park the bus near an abortion clinic. Sidewalk Advocates are there every week, and now they can share with women that they can get free ultrasounds on our bus. The mobile medical unit feels like our secret mission.
I feel like I am the steward of something that will make an impact because it was very obviously God’s provision that made it happen.
The NorthState Care Clinic plants to launch their Bus this summer of 2023.
You can keep up with the incredible work happening at NorthState Care Clinic by following them on Facebook and Instagram.
If you feel inspired by this story, you can support PRC heroes like Wendy Reasner. Help fund more Stork Buses and keep their services FREE of charge to the women who most need them. Donate or become a monthly partner here.
