Pregnancy center fulfills dream

When Belinda “Bebe” Ford was 17, she experienced the death of her 23-year-old cousin, Fiona Jackson — an event that decades later would fuel a passion in Ford that led her to open two pregnancy centers in Pine Hills and Winter Garden.

Ford opened the first Fiona Jackson Center for Pregnancy in Pine Hills in spring 2019 to provide life-affirming choices for women and families facing unintended pregnancies, and it strives to promote healthy, informed and responsible life choices. Later that year, she opened a second location in Winter Garden.

A DESIRE TO HELP

Jackson first became pregnant when she was 12, and by the time she was 19, she had three daughters.

Four years ago, Ford said, she started having dreams of babies calling out for help.

“All of a sudden, God was showing me little Fionas all over Pine Hills and how they needed a pregnancy center,” Ford said. “Fiona needed a pregnancy center. Fiona needed love.”

She already had been volunteering at a pregnancy center at First Baptist Orlando, teaching young pregnant girls how to love Jesus.

Ford said God called her to open a pregnancy center of her own.

“A fire started to rise up in me,” she said. “I go online, and, boom, a church taught how to open a pregnancy center. … Now I’m on fire, and I’m ready to go. I can’t get rid of it; the feeling is there, and it’s burning. I hired a young lady to help me. I took my savings and opened the pregnancy center.”

In March 2019, she sent out grand-opening invitations for her makeshift center to churches all over Orlando in hopes of reaching the people who needed her center the most.

One chance meeting with a Winter Garden pastor changed the future of Ford’s mission. Brian Tipps, of West Orange Church of Christ, visited Ford, saw how busy her Pine Hills center was and asked if she could use some space in Winter Garden.

She took him up on the offer and started holding classes at his church on Daniels Road for girls and young women in West Orange County.

“This is a prime example of listening to God,” Ford said.

Soon after, she met the pastor of The Kingdom Church, who also gave her a permanent location in Pine Hills.

“He said, ‘I believe God is calling you to both Pine Hills and Winter Garden,’” Ford said. “This was all God.”

The center’s mission is “to share and show the love of the Creator of mankind” and “to affirm the significance of the womb.”

Before opening the location in Winter Garden, Ford knocked on many doors in east Winter Garden to gauge interest. She said she met several pregnant teenagers who would benefit from the center’s services — this was the confirmation Ford needed.

A grand opening for the Winter Garden location was held in December 2019, and this center provided pregnancy tests; life skills training through mentoring; and classes on identity through a relationship with God, childbirth and parenting. It also has Nanny’s Closet, which provides everything a baby needs, Ford said, including diapers, wipes, formula, clothing and even cribs.

A VILLAGE OF SUPPORT

One of Ford’s biggest testimonies came from a family in east Winter Garden. A married couple with one child discovered they were pregnant and were worried about being able to afford another baby. They learned about the Fiona Jackson center and met with Ford.

“I’ve been coaching them how to stand together in hard times,” she said. “To see them is so beautiful. They have three children now. It’s been a joy to watch that family bloom.”

For others, though, they make the decision not to keep the baby.

“We also do post-abortion Bible study in a class called Mended,” Ford said. “Our No. 1 gift is love. … When the pain hits, we’re here for you.”

The center also promotes HIV awareness.

“A lot of times, girls are getting abortions because they’re HIV positive,” Ford said. “They don’t realize they can have the baby and live a full life.”

According to Ford, the center has served more than 400 women and saved the lives of 63 babies — 31 of them in Winter Garden —since 2019.

The center operates with a small staff of Ford and three other women in the office. It holds four fundraisers annually: Walk4Life, a benefit breakfast, the Baby Bottle Campaign, and an end-of-the-year plea for donations at fjcenter.org.

The organization has formed important partnerships with churches and community groups — including New Horizons Christian Church, West Orange Church of Christ, the Dream Center and West Orange Christian Service Center — which have given the center operation space and resources.

Each one of them has been a blessing to Ford and her mission.

“I have to be a voice in the community,” Ford said. “(Young girls) are so disconnected from their bodies and their family, and it’s a hard place to be, especially when you don’t have the knowledge.”