CELEBRATING 30 years of helping

A few years ago, after listening to an inspiring speaker, Lisa Swan felt an internal tug.

“I was riding home with my cousin and I remember saying, ‘I feel like God is calling me to do something profound for women,’” she said.

Swan didn’t necessarily think it would be earth-shattering, she added, but in its own small way it would be significant.

She was 26 at the time, a wife and mother who loved her work in the cardiac unit at Sanford Health. But she’d soon learn of an opening for a nurse manager at FirstChoice Clinic that would grab her interest.

Women

BY ROXANE SALONEN MIKE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

Feeling that this might be part of the nudge, Swan applied for the position and was offered the job.

Two years later, she’s transitioned to client services director, managing nursing staff at the three FirstChoice Clinic sites in FargoMoorhead, Devils Lake and Bismarck-Mandan.

Now in its 30th year of operation, the nonprofit, faith-based clinic provides education and health services to encourage informed, lifeaffirming choices.

Swan said she didn’t know a lot about FirstChoice Clinic when she moved with her family to Fargo from Rochester, Minn., in 2009.

“My view from the outside was that it was this hugely pro-life place,” she says. “And while that’s not incorrect, now I see it more as pro-woman. The way the clinic approaches life is to help the woman first and foremost, and that in effect helps the child as well.”

Tom Frei, executive director, says FirstChoice Clinic involves a support base and collaboration from all faiths, but serves anyone needing its services.

“Medical knowledge, facts, truth and charity guide the relationship,” Frei said. “By giving all the information available, we believe our clients will choose life.”

He also clarifies that FirstChoice Clinic is not a political activist group. “We are not set up to wage political battles. Our focus is to serve our clients’ needs,” he said. “With regard to our name, we believe ‘choice’ ultimately to be a corollary of our freedom, a gift from God, and not something to avoid.”

Having lived as a single mother during college, Swan models how carrying a child doesn’t have to mean a bleak future. “You can make a decision that’s healthy for yourself and your child and still achieve your goals,” she said.

And clients often receive benefits beyond what they came seeking. “They see blessings in their life beyond having a child,” she said, “and may decide to go to school or make another change, just by going through the process and re-evaluating their lives.”

Along with education, FirstChoice Clinic offers free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and now, testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which can be treated on site. “We see guys, too,” Swan said, noting that some fathers also need to sort out pregnancy decisions.

The primary clients, however, are young women who are concerned about pregnancy and need to think through their options with a caring staff. “It doesn’t matter if they’re unsure of their plans,” Swan said. “We can see anyone in that situation.” [AWM]