New downtown Indy Women’s Care Center is part of ‘God’s perfect timing’

With the help of Women’s Care Center on the northwest side of Indianapolis, Krystan chose life for her daughter Alyvia. (Photo courtesy of Women’s Care Center)

By Natalie Hoefer

Krystan was nine weeks pregnant when she and her mother visited the Women’s Care Center (WCC) in Indianapolis.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to keep [my baby],” says Krystan, whose last name is withheld for privacy.

But once she saw the images from the free ultrasound she received during that visit, “I knew that I would keep her,” she says of the daughter she named Alyvia.

Tens of thousands of women like Krystan have been helped since WCC opened its facility on the city’s northwest side in November 2014.

Soon, women will have two Indianapolis WCC locations to choose from, as renovations of a building downtown begin this summer for a second center in the city.

When the northwest side Women’s Care Center opened, “I don’t think any of us would have imagined the need,” says Katherine Kelly, executive outreach director of the South Bend, Ind.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1984 by a Catholic professor at the University of Notre Dame. “That center is serving over 4,000 women a year.

“Today, no other center—not just the 38 Women’s Care Centers in 12 states but no other pregnancy care center in the United States—serves more women and saves more babies than Women’s Care Center in Indianapolis. So, the success of the first Indianapolis center is really what pointed to such a clear need for more.”

Kelly says when the new center opens at a date to be determined, it is expected to serve 1,000 women in its first year, eventually rising to more than 2,500 women annually.

Locating the new WCC in the heart of the city was an intentional, strategic choice, says Kelly—and part of “God’s perfect timing.”

‘We knew this was it’

With the “changing landscape of abortion in Indiana,” Kelly says having convenient pregnancy care center locations is critical.

“It’s so important that we are easily visible and easily accessed so that women have that other opportunity to learn and make the best decision for themselves and for their future,” she says. “This downtown location really helps us do that in a few ways.”

First, the location at 705 E. Market Street is surrounded by four of the state’s zip codes identified by the Indiana Department of Health as having the highest concentration of pregnant women in need.

“That means low-income women, women of color, single women, single mothers and those who are on Medicaid,” Kelly explains. “These are also the women who are most at risk for abortion.”

Another benefit is the property’s location on a corner lot just one block from a highway exit, making it convenient and accessible to areas outside of the four zip codes.

Finally, the property purchased has a standalone building, making the new center “super visible, much more than if it were in some high-rise or big plaza,” says Kelly.

And at 5,300 square feet, the center should be able to offer seven counseling rooms and three ultrasound rooms like the northwest side facility.

As an added bonus, the property has a paved parking lot with 25 spaces—a tremendous asset in a city with little free parking.

Finding such a perfect spot was no accident.

“You really do have to let the Holy Spirit guide this process, it’s something you can’t force,” says Kelly. “We have been very patient, waiting, searching diligently, but knowing that when it was the right opportunity, when it was the optimal location, we would know.

“When the property at 705 East Market [Street] became available last year, we knew this was it. It was perfect.”

‘It’s our job to walk with her’

At this new, “perfect” site, women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy will receive the same love, encouragement and accompaniment offered at every Women’s Care Center.

It’s a form of committed care that extends beyond the baby’s birth.

“It’s so important to walk with that woman from the moment she discovers she’s pregnant until she sends her little one off to kindergarten,” says Kelly. “Those are such formative years for her as a mother and for her family. It sets that child up for ultimate success.”

From the moment a woman walks through the door of a WCC, “a relationship with her counselor is built, and it’s so personalized to her,” Kelly explains. “It’s our job to walk with her, … supporting her every single day in her decision to choose life.”

Those words ring true for Krystan, who gave permission to share with The Criterion comments she made in an interview with WCC.

“Lizzie, my counselor, was so sweet and bubbly,” she says. “And she just listened. She didn’t push me either way, just gave me [information] on all sides. … It was so nice to come here and have a more personal, positive, comfortable environment before going straight to the doctor.”

As with all WCC locations, on-site classes will be offered at the new Indianapolis facility.

“It’s a robust curriculum on everything from baby basics like how to change a diaper, all the way to much more advanced programming like raising kids with character,” says Kelly.

At each WCC, women earn coupons with every class and visit. They can redeem the coupons at the facility’s Crib Club baby store for new items like diapers, clothing, cribs, car seats and more.

“I know my family would have helped,” says Krystan. “But coming here made me feel like I got things for my baby myself. I came to the classes and got the coupons all on my own. All the big stuff was taken care of from [Women’s Care Center]. Basically everything I have is from the classes—car seats, stroller, clothes. …

“The fact that you can come after the baby is born for classes or support or [items] is so helpful.”

The classes also help the women “build a little community,” says Kelly. “They build friendships, their kids build friendships, and that’s so important as a parent. It can be such an isolating time.

“So, creating a space where there are other women in similar situations as you with children that are identical ages as yours, it really is a community, and it’s so important to continue that for years.”

This network of care, help and encouragement is offered at no charge to the women served. All of WCC’s services are free: pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling pregnant women on options, help finding prenatal care, accompaniment from “cradle to kindergarten,” classes and post-abortion counseling.

WCC’s compassionate approach made choosing life possible for Krystan—and for tens of thousands other women as well.

‘It’s beautiful when women say yes’

As Kelly noted, WCC has 38 locations in 12 states. Together, those sites served 44,000 women in 2025, with 91% choosing life for their baby.

Through the compassionate care at the current WCC in Indianapolis, women in unplanned pregnancies chose life for nearly 2,600 babies in 2024.

“That means one in five of the [nearly 14,500] babies born in the entire [Marion] county got their beautiful start at Women’s Care Center in Indianapolis,” Kelly notes.

The center served more than 4,000 women in 2025—15% more than the year prior.

The WCC organization aims to serve a total of 100,000 women by 2032, says Kelly, “and the new Indianapolis location will be critical in achieving that goal.”

Donations of funds and items are always welcome, but there is another essential gift Kelly lists first among the organization’s needs: prayer.

“It seems so simple, and I think we oftentimes overlook it,” she says. “But it’s so critical to pray for the moms, pray for the babies, pray for the staff that are serving these women in really, really difficult situations.

“Those situations can sometimes make choosing life really hard. But it’s beautiful when women still say yes because they find the support that they need at Women’s Care Center, and have that courage and confidence in themselves to know that they can do it. It’s really beautiful.”
 

(To learn more about Women’s Care Center or to donate to their efforts in Indianapolis, go to supportwomenscarecenter.org. To mail donations for the Indianapolis centers, checks made out to “Women’s Care Center” can be mailed to Women’s Care Center, 4901 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46268. Donations of new or gently used items can be dropped off at that address between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call ahead at 317-829-6800 to confirm what items are accepted and to note when you’ll arrive so a staff member can meet you at the door on the north side of the building, facing 86th Street.) †