Sav-A-Life has moved from its location on South Brundidge Street to a new home located at 523 S. Three Notch St., and Administrator Lois Finlay couldn’t be more pleased.

“I love it,” said Finlay, “it’s just amazing.”

The move came as a response to the growing number of clients Sav-A-Life has seen over the past year, as well as new classes that have been added because of the growth.

“This past year, we had over 1,400 clients that came through our doors, which is an 89 percent increase from last year,” Finlay said.

The new center offers more space for clients and workers alike.

“We have better parking facilities, additional counseling rooms, more workspace overall and an ultra sound room,” Finlay said.

The center has added parenting classes, marriage and relationship classes, pre-natal care and STD classes to its educational arsenal.

“So far we’ve had 1,022 hours of classes taken here at Sav-A-Life,” Finlay said.

Finlay says that an excellent testament to the effectiveness of the center has been the total hours of classes taken and the fact that 85 clients (women and men) have graduated so far.

“You have to have taken at least 10 classes to graduate, at which point you’re gifted with a special gift basket valued around $100,” Finlay said

To ensure that clients get the most out of visits, the center requires that all clients attend all four nutrition classes that are offered.

“After doing follow-ups on our clients, we’ve found that up to 23 percent of them have experienced a miscarriage and that’s why we emphasize our nutrition and pre-natal classes,” Finlay said.

Finlay stated that one reason that percentage is so high is because of prior abortions and STDs.

The center encourages women who may be afraid or who may feel ashamed of their pregnancy to take courage and explore their options.

“About 5 percent of our clients are abortion-minded and 2 percent of them change their minds, and since we’ve added the ultra sound room we haven’t had any clients say they wanted an abortion,” Finlay said.

Finlay has also observed that for comfort purposes clients usually bring some company with them and don’t normally come in by themselves.

“There’s hardly ever a client that comes in by herself, and when they do bring friends we usually end up ministering to them as well,” Finlay said.

“The clients feel like they can relate to the teachers, because they’ve been there and done that.”

After having been in service for almost 25 years, Sav-A-Life continues to be a lifeline for women who may be trying to deal with an unplanned pregnancy or a crisis pregnancy.

Sav-A-Life will host a dinner and silent auction on Friday, March 11, at Park Memorial UMC starting at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are being sold at $15 per person and $25 per couple.

For more information about the dinner and silent auction, or if you need help, please contact Sav-A-Life at 334-566-2880.