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From the desk of Tom Clark Dear Peggy, Heartbeat has once again offered its valuable services and you delivered with excellence. We had arranged for a Heartbeat consultant to come to the center this past February. We were privileged to have Beth Diemert, Vice-President of Heartbeat, be our consultant. Her time and encouragement were wonderful. Drawing from her experience and expertise, her recommendations to the board were not only compelling at the moment, but also persuasive enough to encourage them to take action on nearly everything that was mentioned. A minor miracle perhaps! Thank you. Thanks, not only for services like the consultation, but for everything Heartbeat provides to us as affiliates. It starts with your affiliate newsletters. I have found them helpful, educational and have often borrowed or implemented ideas that started with what you mentioned. When I check my bookcase, I am impressed with the number of Heartbeat manuals that I find there. There are board manuals, sample policy and procedures, counseling manuals, and of course the worldwide directory of Pregnancy Centers. Each of these has saved us countless hours because you have done the hard work of research, editing, compilation and publishing the resources. Conferences have been a regular part of our ongoing training. It was a conference where I attended an intensive day on Medical Services that was just the right information at just the right time to move us from thinking about adding medical services to actually doing it. I will, on a personal level, be ever grateful for my first conference, a New Director’s Oasis. Eight years later, there are some things, like a written director's report to the board, that have become commonplace to us. It had its genesis at the New Director Oasis. This does not even touch on the countless ways the conferences have filled us with ideas, and provided opportunities to meet colleagues in the movement and gather ideas from others. One of the conference highlights for me is just to be encouraged in the work we are doing by hearing others speak to our issues. Peggy, your address is always a highlight for me. I will never forget the conference where you were with us, yet your husband was seriously ill and also needed you. You showed extraordinary heart that night. Worshiping and praying together at the conference encourages me in my work for the Lord. It helps dispel the aloneness that can at times creep up on me. What I cherish most are the personal relationships that I have been able to build with national and international leaders in the pregnancy center movement through our association with Heartbeat. With confidence, I feel free to call the office and avail myself of your expertise on any number of issues. It is a powerful resource for the board, staff and center to have someone else other than ourselves to appeal to as we seek to know and understand trends in the movement. Finally, as the spokesman for our board, and as a leader, I appreciate the breadth and approach of Heartbeat International. You offer services and advice while recognizing the unique and individual contributions that each center brings to the movement. You are great facilitators for growth and change. So, with gratitude for what you have done for us as a center and myself as a leader, I thank you for your services not only to us, but to the women we serve and to our Lord, who is the source of all we do. Sincerely,
Tom Clark, Executive Director |
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