Lisa Souba Executive Director Women's Resource Center of the Rockies Dillon, Colorado

How long has your Center been open and seeing clients?
For 1 year and 1 month

What drew you to working with the WRC of the Rockies?
 I am the founder of WRC. I had two abortions. I never want another woman to feel the pain and loneliness I felt back then. My experiences have given me a real passion for women in crisis. I wanted to bring hope and options and support to women in a very scary time of their lives.

How did you come to be Director after founding the Center?
As I was laying the ground work for the Center to open I felt as if God was developing in my heart a desire to continue working as the Executive Director. At that time I was working full time as a health care consultant. The hours and the salary we were able to pay at the WRC would have demanded I take a cut in pay and our situation was one where that was not possible. As usual, God had other plans. God provided an increase in my husband’s salary and then, with my husband’s support, I was able to take the director position.

What were some of the surprises you encountered (both positive and negative) once you started in the ED position?
Positive:  The number of volunteers we have who passionately serve here at the center

Negative:  It saddens me when I see doctrinal differences get in the way of serving Christ.  He calls us to serve those who are suffering and to not judge, yet often times as a director I am faced with leaders of churches who are unwilling to work with us because of doctrinal differences.

What has been helpful to you as a fairly new Executive Director?
It has been helpful to have other directors to talk to when something comes up. We have a very supportive network of directors here in Colorado. It has been great to be able to talk with directors who have experienced some of the issues I am facing like being in a small, resort mountain town.

What are some of the issues you face in dealing with a small community in one of the ski-resort areas of Colorado?
Women who come to our area don’t stay long. They are only here for the ski or summer seasons. Women often come and realize it is too expensive to live here. They see being pregnant or having a child and taking that pregnancy or baby with them to their next destination as baggage.  They don’t want to take this baggage with them, so they see abortion as their only option.  They want to be free and party. They don’t want a baby to change their lifestyle.

How has your Center addressed these issues?
We are learning how to focus on their issues and meet them where they are. We are trying to learn how to earn our clients’ trust by listening to their stories, fears and dreams. It becomes a challenge when clients make a decision that is different than what we desire for them. But we are committed to ministering to our clients no matter what their final decision.

They say hindsight is always 20/20. Is there anything you see or understand now that you wished you knew when you started the job?
Living in a very transient and free-thinking mountain community, I did not realize how hard it would be to raise funding for a faith-based, nonprofit organization. I also did not realize how hard it would be to coordinate and communicate with the wide variety of people, their passion and opinions, who are involved with the Center.  

What made you choose Equipped to Serve training materials for your Center?
Equipped to Serve was recommended by several other directors who had been using the material for many years and were very happy with it.

How have the Equipped to Serve Training materials impacted your Center?
Cyndi came and conducted our first Equipped to Serve training. That was very important in helping us grasp the material and begin to apply it at the Center. We find the training is applicable not only to our work in the center but in our personal lives as well.  Some of the volunteers who have come on board since our initial training are working through the self training program. The Self-Paced training is also a good tool to help us brush up on our skills and keep it fresh.  Prior to the ETS training we were very baby focused. The training helped us to see that it is more important to love each woman for who they are and whatever situation they are in rather than imposing our own agendas.

What words of wisdom would you give to someone who was just starting as an Executive Director in a start-up Pregnancy Center?
I would suggest that you go and evaluate other pregnancy centers for a day, especially centers that are going to be similar to your center.  Purchase the Care Net “How to Start a CPC” manual.  It’s a great guide on how to get started.  Enlist board members who have experience in the non-profit world.  As soon as you have interested volunteers, and before you open your doors, book an Equipped to Serve training. 

How many hours is your Center open? 
13 hours a week

How many hours a week are you contracted to work?  Are you currently the only paid staff member?
28 hours and yes, I am the only paid staff member at this time.

What projects are you working on for the future?
We are waiting to see how the Lord leads and what services are really needed in our community. The projects we are working on include developing a plan to transition our one-time donors into monthly donors. We are also making plans to expand out services to the next community over which is the Vail Valley. The Lord has opened up some amazing contacts there and we are prayerfully considering how to meet the needs of women in the Vail Valley. As our client and donor bases expand we hope to develop an ultrasound program and, if warranted, an Earn While You Learn program to support mothers and children in our community.

Lisa can be reached at lisa@wrcoftherockies.org and by calling her office at 970-262-9274.