
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 29, 1994                   TAG: 9404290146
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PREGNANCY CENTER GETS NEW ADDRESS

The Crisis Pregnancy Center of Roanoke Valley will be in a new location Monday after it lost its lease in Northwest Roanoke.

Today, the center will move to a temporary site at the corner of Williamson Road and Jefferson Street in Southwest Roanoke, in rented space in the former Roanoke Iron and Bridge Works building.

Executive Director Ruth Fielder said she hopes the agency can find a permanent location in six to nine months.

The center lost its home after the $320,000 building where it leased offices was bought by Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge last year. Planned Parenthood officers said the organization had outgrown its facilities on Liberty Road, and the most practical expansion option was to buy the next-door property - which included the building housing the Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Almost immediately, the Crisis Pregnancy Center was informed its lease would not be renewed by its new landlord.

The Crisis Pregnancy Center - which operates a Christian-oriented program encouraging pregnant women to choose alternatives to abortion - began looking to buy a new site right away, Fielder said, hoping to avoid having to move twice.

The center was encouraged about a prospective site last fall, but that fell through, Fielder said. The agency is in the early stages of negotiating for another site now, but that deal - still very tentative, she said - is unlikely to be closed soon.

A fund-raising campaign last fall raised about $150,000 to be used toward the permanent relocation, Fielder said. That won't be enough to buy an adequate site, but it may be used as a down payment or for renovations of an existing building, Fielder said. Additional fund-raising options may be considered once a new location is purchased.

The temporary offices are somewhat larger that the Liberty Road quarters, Fielder said, and there is more parking space. "It's a nice facility. We were glad to be able to find something short term."

Clients will be able to use the same office and crisis hot line telephone numbers, Fielder said. The organization's mailing address has changed, however, to P.O. Box 13225, Roanoke 24032-3225.

The center is starting a new required training session for volunteer counselors, beginning Tuesday. Participants may register Monday by calling 362-3007.

by CNB