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Message from Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D.
Heartbeat President
 Dear Friends in Christ,
I hope you enjoy Heartbeat’s Annual Review of what the Lord has accomplished through our work in 2007 and what we hope He will use us to achieve in 2008.
In 2007, the Lord blessed our prayers and labor with many fruits. Approximately 2,000 babies were saved each week because of the concrete help and love of the Lord shared daily through our Option Line and in our neighborhood centers. Thousands more girls, women, and families were helped through our prevention and healing programs. These fruits are often known only to God, the families, and ministries directly involved in each precious situation.
Heartfelt Thanks!
The fruits of your financial and spiritual gifts far exceed the limited space of this Annual Review. We at Heartbeat are humbled by your generosity in sharing your resources and, especially, your prayers.
Have you considered how you can increase your support to pregnancy centers, the service arm of the pro-life movement, through Heartbeat? Please call us at 888-550-7577 or visit our website for details on how you can join our ranks of LifeSavers, e-Partners, and Strategic Partners.
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But public notice was also taken of our work. The number of reported abortions in the U.S. fell to its lowest point since 1976 and authoritative voices credited the work of our centers. The Supreme Court upheld the ban on partial birth abortion, quoting a “Friend of the Court” brief with heart-rending statements from women suffering from post abortion syndrome. Heartbeat and our clients know first hand of the heartbreak and pain that women feel, so we were elated that their voices were heard loudly and clearly. The work of pregnancy centers even made the cover of TIME magazine; Heartbeat International and the Option Line® number (800-395-HELP), were introduced to four million readers.
As we work for concrete, measurable results, we also make room for the “surprise opportunities” that the Lord sends us. These blessings take us far beyond what we could accomplish through our human plans, efforts, and resources! God multiplies our offerings and, like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, He gives them freely to all. For me, and I hope for you too, the work of Heartbeat International is a wondrous avenue for growth in faith, hope, and love.
Sincerely for Life,
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Heartbeat's Mission is to REACH, RESCUE and RENEW
REACH
The first part of Heartbeat’s mission is to REACH, with a message of hope, those who are vulnerable to abortion and struggling with an unexpected pregnancy or a past abortion.
“Reach down your hand from on high” (Psalm 144:7).
An Option Line Instant Message of hope:
Girl: they told me its just a blood clot but im 8 weeks i have had a child already it is more than that isnt it?
OL: who told you it was just a blood clot?
Girl: the abortion clinic
OL: Yes it is...more than a blood clot hon[ey] – we can help u
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Option Line (800-395-HELP), Heartbeat’s unique joint venture with Care Net, is the nation’s only fully staffed, pro-life call center, operating 24/7. Option Line’s goals are to attract and connect people with our life-saving network of care and to raise the level of excellence in this network. Nearly 85% of all pregnancy centers (along with maternity homes, and post abortion programs) in the USA and Canada form this network. The number of client contacts reaching this network has increased a staggering 467.7% since Option Line’s “birth” in 2003.
Without reducing our client contacts or increasing our operating budget, we set out in 2007 to improve efficiency and core services, collaborate with other pro-life advertisers in need of our phone number or call center, and strengthen the “end services” received by those in need.
2007 highlights for Option Line:
- Over 200,000 phone, email, and instant messaging (IM) contacts were handled by our paid staff of 34 trained consultants.
- Seventy percent of our contacts continue to be “mission critical” involving pregnancy situations that could lead to abortion.
- A new contact channel, IM, favored by teenagers and college students, was added 24/7 to our email and phone channels.
- Additional Spanish speaking consultants were added to Option Line staff to meet increasing needs.
- More than one million people accessed critical information about pregnancy and pregnancy center locations at our website OptionLine.org.
- PlusLink, our on-line appointment setting program, was successfully launched in 17 centers. When a local center is closed for business, Option Line consultants can access the center’s appointment book directly and schedule an appointment instead of simply giving the center phone number.
 “If you’re facing an unplanned pregnancy,”
the announcer said, “you have options.
You don’t have to be alone.
Call 1-800-395-HELP.
Our services are totally confidential and free.
If you’re pregnant, call now. There is help.”
Click here to view Option Line® commercial. |
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RESCUE
 The second part of Heartbeat’s mission is to reinforce our RESCUE network, providing the critical services needed to save and change the lives of those we REACH. We provide the essential, cutting-edge training, resources, and support that Christian leaders, staff, and volunteers need to carry out this work in pregnancy centers. Thus Heartbeat International is the lifeline to the front-line lifesavers.
“Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men” (Psalm 140:1).
2007 highlights for our RESCUE network:
- For the first time, over 50% of our U.S. affiliated pregnancy centers were providing life-saving ultrasound.
- We collaborated with Focus on the Family’s Option Ultrasound™ Program by providing training for Directors and Board members and legal reviews for affiliates eligible for ultrasound machines.
- Over 1,000 U.S. leaders received in-person Heartbeat best practices training around the country.
- Over 600 international leaders received in-person Heartbeat training on-site in Mexico, Canada, Russia, and South Africa.
- U.S. affiliates increased to 1,074 in 48 states.
- Outside the USA, worldwide affiliates increased to 160 in 40 countries.
- In a pro-active move to help defend centers from attack by the abortion industry and their friends in Congress, Heartbeat collaborated with Care Net for our first-ever Congressional Briefing in Washington, D.C. We collected more than 10,000 petitions for a presidential veto of hostile legislation and consulted with pregnancy centers under attack.
- TIME magazine’s cover story on pregnancy centers mentioned Heartbeat International and brought the Option Line number to the attention of four million readers.
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| RENEW
 The third part of Heartbeat’s mission is to RENEW communities for LIFE. Strong pregnancy centers are the “hub” of pro-life education and renewal for families, churches, and communities. While the major U.S. cities are overrun with abortion clinics, often targeting the young, the poor, the uneducated, and minorities, most pregnancy centers operate in medium-sized cities, small towns, and rural areas.
Heartbeat is changing that.
“They will renew the ruined cities that have been
devastated for generations” (Isaiah 61:4).
2007 highlights for Urban Initiative:
- Our first Urban Initiative center, Heartbeat of Miami, opened its doors on July 6th in Hialeah, a neighborhood with seven abortion clinics and no pregnancy center equipped with ultrasound. This was the culmination of more than a year’s groundwork: alerting the Christian community – Catholic and Protestant – to the need; unifying them around the Heartbeat of Miami vision; and raising local funds to implement the vision.
- The local Heartbeat of Miami leadership team developed a city-wide plan and took the first steps to open two additional centers in 2008, one in Miami’s African-American and Haitian neighborhood, and the other in Little Havana.
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We're READY
Robust future efforts depend on Heartbeat’s READINESS.
We also achieved success in our capacity building goals in 2007 – to strengthen our nonprofit organizational structure, meet our expanding need for resources, and build a firm foundation for Heartbeat International in the future. We continue to READY ourselves for the future.
2007 READINESS highlights:
- Heartbeat increased our ability to meet the growing needs for core services requested by affiliates and the public: new staff were hired; office space was added for trainings; the computer network was updated; and the Option Line call center space was reorganized to increase efficiency of operations.
- Our Development Program continued to bring more supporters into partnership with Heartbeat. We grew our active donor base from 3,000 to over 8,000; and we started the Strategic Partners Program for our donors who seek the highest level of investment.
- The Heartbeat Board gave high ratings to a planning retreat they attended and added four new Board members to the Governing Team: Dr. Alveda King, Julie Parton, and Dr. and Mrs. Anthony Levatino.
*A single, generous donor funded this program to increase the number of Heartbeat donors.
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Heartbeat International READY to REACH, RESCUE, and RENEW in 2008
With the impulse of Heartbeat’s great strides in 2007, the Lord continues to lead us and open doors to accomplish so much more. We trust that He will provide the resources, partnering with you, our dear supporters, to accomplish the goals we believe He has given us – in addition to His “surprise” opportunities in 2008. The Lord works that way!
Highlights for 2008 include:
- Serve 20% more contacts through the Option Line call center connecting 240,000 calls, emails, and IM’s from people in need to life-saving local pregnancy centers that can save babies and change lives.
- Make appointments, when “live connect” is not possible, for Option Line callers in 42 U.S. centers (expand from the current 17 centers) in preparation for a major rollout in 2009.
- Restructure and update Option Line website so that we retain its key positioning in the major web search engines resulting in more calls and center visits.
- Initiate a ground-breaking program to gather national statistics from the Option Line network for a pro-life “think tank” to refute unfounded attacks and misleading information from our opponents.
- Extend vital Heartbeat services to 1,300 affiliates worldwide.
- Expand Heartbeat best practices training to 1,700 leaders around the globe, make key training available online, publish updated materials, and help centers defend themselves from coming attacks.
- Research major U.S. cities and choose three for the next phase of the Urban Initiative centers.
- Collaborate with other leading Christian organizations to advance the pro-life, pro-family mission.
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Electronic Fund Transfer Provides Powerful Provisions
 If saving and changing lives is your reason for giving to Heartbeat then you should be an ePartner for Life. Electronic monthly partnership provides powerful provision! Investing monthly in Kingdom work is as effective as monthly retirement investing in this world but eternally more valuable.
Even if the Lord has been directing you in single gifts, we want you to consider both. Why? We need both in this war against life. Rock-solid monthly ePartners combined with occasional giving in addition as needs arise makes you extremely effective in this battle for life. Donate now or contact Anita at 888-550-7577 for personal service. You are joined with us in this labor of love. Thank you.
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Address: Heartbeat Int., 665 E. Dublin-Granville Road, Suite 440, Columbus, OH 43229, USA
Phone: (888) 550-7577 | Fax: (614) 885-8746| Email: support@heartbeatinternational.org
©2008 Heartbeat International, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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