Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Deese.
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey with Grace House Pregnancy Center Started in 2017 when I became a volunteer client advocate, but I truly believe that God has been preparing me for this season my whole life through experiences and circumstances that I had gone through.
I was in my junior year of college working toward a degree in clinical psychology when my children were seeing a counselor at the time. I had mentioned to her that I was looking for places to volunteer to help women specifically, and she told me about Grace House. I went and met with the Center Director and knew that was where I needed to be.
In August of 2020, I had the opportunity to apply for a staff position as a Center Director of one of the satellite locations and was accepted ( after many days of doubt that the logistics would’nt work out, but God worked them out) and then in April of 2021, I was invited to the Executive Director role as the ED at the time was retiring. So, here I am now!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, that’s a loaded question. In general terms of my life, every moment that has led me here has been VERY tough, but specifically, during my time at GH it has been a pretty smooth road, just requiring a little faith. I had my first child at 19, unplanned and scared, married his father then had my second child at 21, also unplanned.
During the 10 years, we were married, it was very tumultuous, emotionally. I experienced several areas of crisis from unplanned pregnancy, to homelessness, abuse, health, and financial crisis, and was alone without a family support system. During those ten years, I went back to school for certification in dental assisting, when my second child, my daughter, was born.
Then 6 years into that, I went back to college again to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering, where I later changed my major to clinical psychology. During this time, I was the sole financial provider, worked full time, and went to school more than full time with two toddlers.
I faced a health crisis and was uninsured, without medical care. My fighting spirit (so I thought at the time) and the grace of God are what got me through. By the time I was able to get medical care, my heart had been stopping for more than 7 seconds multiple times that day. I was rushed into surgery for a pacemaker.
There were still many more years of interventions with surgeries. Simultaneously, I began going through a long, nasty, divorce. During this time, I found myself at the feet of Jesus asking Him to rescue me and surrendering my heart to Him. Since then, He has done a big work in me. He gave me the desire to really pursue Him and His will for my life. I look back and can see how He aligned every single tiny detail, bringing solutions to situations that seemed hopeless. He brought me all of my heart’s desires and blessed me with the one thing I longed for more than anything; a loving, faithful, Godly man. I’ve learned that when I seek His will for my life and not my own, there is more joy in life and less struggle. Every challenge I have gone through, He has used to help others. Literally, every circumstance I have faced that tried to tear my life apart, every ounce of pain, hopelessness, brokenness, every tear, has given me a heart of compassion for the women and men I have the chance to know through Grace House. Knowing how God transformed my life, fuels this cavernous fountain of passion to love our patients with an unhinged, wreckless, restorative kind of agape love. If one thing could some up my life it would be this verse, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Grace House Pregnancy Center?
Grace House is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We help individuals in unplanned pregnancies facing uncertainty learn about their pregnancy options so they may be empowered in their decision-making process. We are currently going through rebranding, which my team and myself are very excited about.
We have been serving Volusia county for 21 years, offering a loving place for women and men to seek help with their pregnancy. Our client needs are changing and we strive to offer them the best care to fill those needs. We have offered limited medical services in the past such as limited obstetrical ultrasound, pregnancy tests, and STD tests, but we are currently working towards adopting a full medical model to focus on the clinical side of those needs, ensuring that all medical information comes from a nurse, while we utilize life coaches to offer parenting classes, fatherhood support, and life skills workshops to those who are interested.
We also offer a post-abortive recovery program for anyone experiencing PASS (post-abortion stress syndrome). Think of us as the “ER” in unplanned pregnancies. We don’t perform or refer for abortions, which our clients are fully informed of, but we offer information on all three pregnancy options and limited medical care, so they can be fully informed of their options and risks while making their pregnancy decision. We offer them a place where they can just be where they are emotionally and work through their process without judgment or pressure. If they want continued support, we offer several continuing care programs as mentioned above.
We have a huge team of people who love with their hearts wide open. They recognize the fragile state these women are in and they set aside personal agendas to give the woman the care she needs and deserves. No one wants to feel ashamed or condemned when facing an unplanned pregnancy, and those that are considering the abortion option, are already struggling with those feelings. It’s important that they are able to be respected and supported for the person they are, not for the decision they make, and that is what we will continue to work very hard to ensure.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Yes, major changes! We are currently rebranding, so our name and appearance are changing, We will be remodeling some of our centers to convert to medical clinics. With this model, we will be hiring RNs and RDMSs and likely other staff as well. The pregnancy center movement is changing and I hope that others in this line of work will jump on the big boat to change with it.
Grace House has had a prominent footprint in Volusia County in the last 21 years. We started out operating in a mom-and-pop fashion pouring out love and community resources to single moms helping them with baby needs and emotional, and spiritual support. We added limited medical services in 2008, 2010 a second location, 2019 a third location, and this summer we are launching a mobile medical unit! The community support over the years continues to be strong! We have helped ALOT of women and men, over the years, but in a changing time, it’s imperative to change our approach so we can continue to meet our patients needs.There are other organizations that provide material crisis intervention care, and while we will make those things available to those who want them, it is not our main focus. Our main focus is offering accurate medical information and medical care to those considering terminating their pregnancy. In a world that magnifies a woman’s right to choose, she should be given the resources to make an informed decision. A decision that she can be confident in. Whatever her choice, we want her to know the possible effects of that decision. We want her to be empowered by being informed.
Women need to be empowered to make a decision by having all the information before making a choice. We live in a world where companies , motivated by greed, are aggressively competing to be a woman’s first and only choice. We will cover the cost to ensure women have access to the medical services and care they need to feel fully informed, fully equipped, and fully empowered. Women deserve the right to be loved. Women deserve the right to be respected. Women deserve the right to honesty. Women deserve the right to be informed, Women deserve the right to choose life- all without profit.
Contact Info:
- Email: Jess@theghpc.org
- Website: www.gracehouseprc.org
