Pathways Clinic raised $45,004 at its annual fundraising dinner held Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Vancouver Hilton, where retired neurosurgeon and former U.S. presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson served as keynote speaker.
Guests at the event bid to approach the dessert table first, with the highest table donation earning the first spot in line, an activity that helped drive the night’s fundraising total.
The Washougal faith-based nonprofit, which provides free medical and counseling services to women and families, announced the funds will go toward establishing a new clinic in Vancouver. The organization has seen a 300 percent increase in patient appointments over the past year, according to Executive Director Kimberli Swenson.
“It’s life-changing. It’s life-giving,” Swenson said. “I don’t have words to thank the people that came tonight and shared their time with us, even an event that ran almost an hour late, to stick around in a room this size and fill it and be passionate about just helping women have courage and strength and know that they’re supported.”
During an interview, Swenson said the organization’s growth has pushed its Washougal space to capacity.
“We’ve outgrown our space and we just continue to grow,” she said, adding that the nonprofit hopes to open the new location within a year.
Pathways Clinic is faith-based but medically staffed, providing free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STD testing and treatment, as well as counseling.
“We have registered nurses who are specifically trained in limited ultrasound,” Swenson said. “Every penny that we receive goes right back into the mission to serve the community.”
Swenson said the new site will enable more patients to be seen simultaneously and expand services to include prenatal and general women’s healthcare.
“We envision a building where we can bring in partner organizations and plug and play with those community services,” she said.
The event drew nearly 600 attendees, including several local Republican officials such as state Rep. Jim Walsh, state Rep. Stephanie McClintock and Clark County Republican Party Chair Matthew Bumala.
“I don’t know if I have adequate words,” Swenson said after the dinner. “It was hard to keep the emotions intact today. It started out rocky with everything that we had to do just to be cautious with Doctor Carson here and it made the program run a little late, but for everyone who stuck around, they were engaged.”
During the event, Nurse Katie Clarensau shared a story from the clinic’s 24/7 hotline partner, Infinite Worth, which connects callers considering abortion with pro-life pregnancy centers instead of abortion providers. Clarensau described one call from a woman seven months pregnant who said she did not want her baby.
“She reached out at 4:30 a.m. on a Monday stating, ‘I don’t want my baby,’” Clarensau said. “Instead of walking into a Planned Parenthood, by God’s grace, she was able to be connected to another pro-life pregnancy center where she could receive the love, support and be told the truth about the life that was being knit together inside of her.”
Clarensau said the woman was scheduled for an appointment that same day at a partner clinic in Portland, Oregon.
Pathways and other crisis pregnancy centers are nonprofit organizations that do not provide or refer for abortions or adoption services. They are faith-based and medically limited, offering pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and counseling, but not comprehensive reproductive or prenatal care.
In an interview, Swenson acknowledged the criticism directed at similar nonprofits, which are accused of being misleading or causing delays in access to abortion and other medical services.
“We’re 100% opposite of what they say,” she said. “We don’t offer anything that we don’t do. We don’t pretend to offer anything that we don’t do. We don’t lure women in with anything other than the promise of a free pregnancy test and ultrasound and someone to talk to who is going to listen to them and give them honest answers and not judge them, regardless of what they decide.”
Dr. Carson, in his keynote address, spoke about his life, medical career and his shift in thinking on abortion. He recalled how he once believed he had “no right to tell anyone what to do with their body” before reflecting on slavery and personal responsibility. Carson equated abortion to slavery, describing both as moral wrongs rooted in ownership over another human life.
“That really made me change my mind about it,” Carson said. “Start thinking about maybe there is a responsibility to do something in these situations.”
Carson also drew upon his experience as a pediatric neurosurgeon. He recounted a story about his family meeting one of the conjoined twins many years after he led a surgical team in 1987 to separate them while still in the womb.
“That’s why no one will ever convince me that what’s in a mother’s womb is a meaningless bunch of cells,” Carson said.
Later, he drew applause when addressing gender identity in schools.
“But we have individuals trying to convince 9, 10, 11, 12, 13-year-old kids with undeveloped brains that they may not actually be a boy, they may not actually be a girl,” Carson said. “Could it be that that’s the reason God gave them parents — to protect them from people who are basically child abusers.”
The evening also featured a live ultrasound demonstration of a third-trimester pregnancy, drawing an emotional response from attendees.
Swenson said the turnout and support give her hope for the organization’s future.
“It gives me hope,” she said. “We are here for the long haul because we’re just here to serve women and families and to let them know they’re loved and cared for.”
