The Heidi Group: Where to Get Help

Offering options for girls, women and families in need.

A little about us...

Debbie Castellanos

"My desire to help others stems from the reality that we were all meant to live for so much more than what we've been offered. If only we could tap into that reality, then we will actually begin to live!

It makes me happy to see others truly enjoying their lives and understanding who they are. I want to help others realize that their chance for that kind of life is never gone; we are always provided a new opportunity to try again."

Women living in poverty are almost four times more likely to become pregnant unintentionally than women with greater means.

— Guttmacher Institute

programs

Outreach
In a strategic effort to reach our inner city market as well as reduce overhead, The Heidi Group partners with The Salvation Army to provide services for girls, women and families in the crisis of an unplanned pregnancy. Our on-site staff offer free pregnancy tests, life affirming options counseling and a social service needs assessment to develop a plan to meet the needs of each individual. In the compassionate environment of The Salvation Army, confidential non-judgmental services are offered to lead mothers-to-be to lives of self-sufficiency.

New Beginnings Classes
To meet the needs of mother-to-be as well as move individuals forward to lives of self sufficiency, The Heidi Group offers bilingual parenting classes which include Nutrition I & II, Labor and Delivery I & II, Breast Feeding, Newborn Care I & II, Parenting I, II & III, Financial (literacy) Responsibility I, II III and Hope Renewal I, II & III (Bible studies) classes. Each participant is given a Social Service Needs Assessment at the beginning of the classes. That coupled with the interaction during class assists in determining the individual’s path to productivity. Classes are 10 weeks, a minimum of two hours weekly. At graduation participants are presented with a crib and small layette if all classes have been attended.

Nutrition I
Nutrition II
Financial (Literacy) Responsibility I
Financial (Literacy) Responsibility II
Financial (Literacy) Responsibility III
Labor and Delivery I
Labor and Delivery II
Newborn Care I
Newborn Care II
Parenting I
Parenting II
Parenting III
Hope Renewal (Bible Study) I
Hope Renewal (Bible Study) II
Hope Renewal (Bible Study) III

Women's Reproductive Health Services/Charity Pre-Natal Clinic
The Heidi Group recognized that approximately 52 percent of low-income mothers-to-be and 65 percent of our clients were not receiving pre natal care. Government health care in some cases provides no coverage for the mother, meaning there is no testing for gestational diabetes or other health issues that affect the mother’s health during pregnancy. Because the uninsured understood they could receive emergency Medicaid for delivery, when labor pains started, they went to the hospital for the first medical care of the pregnancy.

The lack of prenatal medical care results in low birth weight infants, miscarriage, birth defects, pre-term labor, maternal and infant mortality and ultimately childhood development.

A secondary factor is the cost for care for both mothers and infants that do not receive prenatal care. Infants born to mothers without prenatal care are at a higher risk of developing long-term health problems. Medicaid costs could be as high as $2,500 per day for an infant in neonatal intensive care unity with an average length of stay of fourteen days, totaling $35,000. (Babies born to immigrant mothers become citizens of the United States at birth and are therefore eligible for Medicaid.)

The clinic serves only the uninsured mother-to-be. The Heidi Group insurance specialist assesses each mother-to-be. If she has insurance or qualifies for a government funded program, she is referred to a Christian private physician for prenatal care.

In partnership with two physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, The Heidi Group remodeled 1,200 square feet of the 4,000 square foot training center , at 2907 North Hampton, in the heart of West Dallas for free prenatal care. This strategic location with a bus stop at the front door offers easy access from all parts of West and inner city Dallas. The charity medical clinic serves a minimum of 30 clients per week, delivering 30 babies a month . We have the physicians and are now working to raise the funds to increase our patient load up to deliver 200 babies per month, 2,400 annually. Each patient receives the following free services:

Pregnancy Test
Pre-natal laboratory and sexually transmitted disease testing
Pregnancy monitoring
Ultrasound (early pregnancy and 18 to 20 weeks)
Parenting Counseling
Child birth classes
Medical questions answered
Family assessments
Nutrition counseling
Well woman exams (to be added when pre natal care is well established)
Bible Studies and discipleship