Volunteer Gerry Clark has never let excuses stop her from her twenty-year service to the Flint Crisis Pregnancy Center. When she started in 1986, she was legally blind but could still read print and see faces. By 1996, she was totally blind but continued her ministry. She now travels to the FCPC on a Your Ride van that picks her up at home and drops her off in downtown Flint, Michigan. When she has a client, she uses a writing guide for the blind to fill out her intake form for the client’s file. Since she cannot see this record, Gerry must later record all her notes by memory on a tape recorder. Each week she listens to these notes to continue the client’s follow-up over the phone.
“The only real disadvantage,” Gerry says, “is that I can’t see their reaction or body language when I ask them questions.”
Director Kelly Reeder says the center would not be able to stay open some days if Gerry were not available. “Gerry is very compassionate to girls who need counseling, both in the office and when she answers Crisis Pregnancy Hotline calls at her house. She is an inspiration to the staff, because she doesn’t give up.”
