Archives for May 2026

As I was cleaning out my old filing cabinet in my home office / older daughter’s bedroom I came across an old paper I wrote back when I was still in school working towards my Bachelors degree in Human Services Management probably circa 2008 or 2009. It was titled “Single Parent Advocacy” and as I read it over, complete with penciled comments and grammar fixes courtesy of my then instructor I was struck by my own insights into single parent statistics and research and what I thought needed to be ‘done about it’. As some of you may know I was (and still am) a single mother myself so I felt ‘justified’ in making judgements. Little did I imagine over 12 or 13 years later where I would be working. 

I cited a few single parent statistics and to be honest as I look at some of the same studies now, well, I can’t say things are trending in a positive way. In my paper, back in 1998 I noted there were “7.7 million single mothers maintaining their own household and most of these mothers, 69% to be exact, had no other adult in the home to help them.” (Census Bureau, 2000). 

Now, well, in 2023 anyway, the Census Bureau noted that there were “15.18 million families headed by a single mother” and that trend seems to be matching current 2026 analyses as well. About “80% of those households are headed by the mother and about 66% of those households have no other adult living with them.” (Census Bureau, 2026)

But the bulk of my paper was not about the number of single parent households there were but about much needed advocacy and understanding for and towards the “circumstances” of single parents. The innards for lack of a better word. 

The study I went over asked a panel of single parents (most of which were mothers)  to list their most “pervasive need”. Not surprisingly things like finances, kids medical and dental care, household tasks, and meeting the emotional needs of the child(ren) were among the top responses. None of these things related to the emotional wellbeing of the parent yet when asked “86% of the parents could relate to the statement: “I feel isolated from other people – like I’m the only one who really cares about what’s going on in my life and with my children.”

I could not believe how closely this statement resembled my own feelings as a single parent. 

I vividly recall picnicking with my daughter, going to the zoo, the park, the library. Trying to inject joy and presence into my child’s days.  A lot of times the single parent does these things alone, without a partner or a companion to enjoy these activities and outings with. Yet they (we) do these things to feel normal, to feel included, to “make it up to her/his kid”. To make up for the lack because it is a lack when the other parent is missing, for whatever reason. It’s a missing piece no matter how you look at it. 

Society’s picture of a single parent is at times presented in a false light. Low income, possible alcohol and/or drug use, multiple partners, unemployment. In reality the average single parent works full time and spends her or his time doing the same things any parent would do.

Helping her with homework and making dinner, reading bedtime stories, doing housework. Yet again they do these things without the support of a spouse or “second parent”.
I believed then and I still believe that single parents are a steadily rising population that require more attention, respect, compassion, and understanding. No matter the reasons for their ‘predicament’.
Only God can truly know one’s heart. 

The face of the family unit is changing and has been. And I am not saying it’s ok. It’s not. But it is a reality. Our reality. My reality when I was 22.  And there are reasons and cultural shifts and failings and any number of other fallacies in our society that have caused this end result where there are children without fathers and in some cases, mothers.
I’m not here to debate that. 

It is mothers and fathers going it alone for a myriad of reasons and circumstances. 

Although many resources are out there to assist financially or with job placement and even basic needs of food and shelter, those things are unlikely to provide anything deeper.
Anything that touches on the inner sense of isolation, guilt, loneliness, fatigue, worthlessness, and anxiety of a parent simply surviving from one day to the next. 

There are programs that do in fact strive to bind these wounds. I will highlight one in particular that, had I known about it when I was a young single mother, oh how different things may have been. 

Founded in Texas in 2012 – Its called Embrace Grace. https://www.embracegrace.com/ 

Their mission? To inspire and equip the church to love on single and pregnant young women and their families. And their vision? For every girl with an unplanned pregnancy to have a church to go to for spiritual, emotional, and physical support. 

I’ve since been to an Embrace Grace meeting and it was a beautiful representation of Christ’s love for His children and His children’s children. Tenderness, attentiveness, intentional gifts, words and prayers. All for a young woman and her child, in the womb and without. No guilt, no fault, no ‘brave faces’ required. Just reassurance of community and prayer. 

Unfortunately there are not many Embrace Grace Groups North of Seattle. The one I visited and will be visiting again is well South of downtown. And there is an Embrace Group for fathers as well – called Embrace Legacy. Is there one around here? Nope.

Like Next Step, programs like Embrace Grace need someone to take up the cross, and create the space. Like so many essential intentional ministries – it just takes one person to see a need and step forward. Because we need it. Single parents need it.
I needed it. 

If this has touched you in any way I encourage you to check out their website and look at the details to start a group. I would be more than happy to offer the Next Step clinic as a home base for an Embrace Grace ministry.

P.S. Save the Date!
The Next Step Pregnancy Services Gala is on Saturday September 19th in Edmonds.
Invitations and registration coming mid-July.
If you are interested in providing an item, experience, or dessert for our Auction
or by being one of our event sponsors please – drop me a line!
heather@nextstepnw.com

Dear friends – I promise to keep this brief. 

Earlier this week there was a flurry of posts about a new website that the Federal Government launched. You may have heard of it? https://www.moms.gov/

The home page says this; “Addressing the needs of mothers and fathers who face difficult or unexpected pregnancies and ensuring the wellbeing of mothers and the health of American families.”

Who could argue with that? As you scroll down you will see a link to – wait for it – Pregnancy Centers, among several other resources. There are links to nutrition, pregnancy care, breastfeeding, fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), IVF information, and more. 

The section on Pregnancy Centers is what I wanted to highlight because, well, as you know, I am the Director of one such place so this definitely caught my attention. When you click on the link that says “Find Pregnancy Centers near you” it links you to Optionline optionline.org/center-locator?zip_code=

Optionline is a pregnancy help contact center, available 24/7 and part of Heartbeat International. Once there if you type in say, 98036, you can see Pregnancy Centers near that zip code and surprise! 

We are there! I was so very pleased to see Next Step and the many other exceptional centers here in WA, many of whom I work with and speak with on a regular basis!

This new website was unexpected for sure but no less essential and welcome. Some commented on the controversial IVF Programs and information linked and expressed disappointment it was included. And I am not wholly in disagreement. However, I simply could not refrain from celebrating the fact that Next Step, and many other stellar pregnancy help clinics, are now, more than ever, at your fingertips. Those men and women and those families who are seeking care, resources, answers, and compassion, have yet another avenue to connect with us and thus families are cared for, pregnancy is celebrated, and lives are changed. 

As the quote so aptly says, if you have knowledge, if you have information, if you have resources, that can better the livelihood of those around you, let them light their candles in it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this new development. What do you think?

~ Heather M Vasquez, Executive Director

P.S. Save the Date!

The Next Step Pregnancy Services annual Gala is on Saturday September 19th at Holy Rosary in Edmonds! A beautiful evening is planned. We can’t wait to see you! Invitations will be in the mail and online mid July!

If you are a business and would li

ke to sponsor the event or if you would like to donate an item, dessert, or experience for the Auction please, reach out! heather@nextstepnw.com

**This is my mom, Patricia, and me, circa 1984 (not 2009)**

Back in February of this year I decided to create a “Family Call” using zoom so that my parents, my daughters, and my brother and his small family could meet up once per week and see each other’s faces and hear each other’s voices. The older daughters are all out of state I might add. What prompted this you might ask – I was scrolling around in between various activities and heard a passing video where a woman was talking about the last time she’d heard her mother’s voice. And that brief, maybe 30 seconds if that, felt like a punch to the gut. When had I last heard MY mom’s voice? We’d gotten so used to texting and group chats and Instagram shares that not only had I not heard her voice but I had not seen her face on a regular basis. The kind of regularity that slowly fades as you get older, leave home, and build a family of your own.  It really hit me hard and I began to imagine my own daughters leaving home and my voice slowly fading from their minds! I admit I can be a little melodramatic but in reality I think we can all agree the age of ‘chat’ and ‘reels’ has really taken a toll on real human connection. That disconnect can be felt in so many areas of our lives, from family and friends, to telehealth appointments, driving school, even bible studies and book groups. Heck even the self-checkout line is a solitary interaction. So it’s no wonder that our younger clients coming in have such a hard time looking our nurses in the eye, verbally expressing their concerns and questions, and even looking past their immediate fears and obstacles, sometimes imagined, sometimes not, and seeing a future with the child they are carrying. That future is too far into the distance to comprehend and certainly not in 30 second to 1 minute blocks of stimulation. The bond between mother and child, in utero, is stronger than anything on record. Even in the animal kingdom the link between mother and child in the womb is astonishing in its depth. Penguin parents recognize their chick’s unique call among thousands of others, dolphin calves recognize their mother’s signature whistle during gestation, Mother elephants communicate with calves in the womb through low-frequency vibrations and sounds. And last, whale calves hear their mother’s calls and rhythms before birth, helping them recognize and stay close to her after delivery. But trying to convince a young woman that her child can hear the sound of her voice while still in her womb? A child she cannot see or feel especially during early pregnancy, which is much of what we see? Life is so very precious, from its earliest moments to the very last breath. Our family had to slow down and really see and hear each other again. And not take for granted the sounds of each other’s voices, more, not take this life He has given us for granted. I’m so thankful my family, spread out as we are, have our weekly zoom call. Even just for a little while, eating dinner, in between work and sports, and bed times, just to check in. And I can hear my mother’s voice, more familiar to me than almost anything and anyone else, as far back as I can remember, and even before then, in her womb.  Happy Mother’s Day to our heavenly Mother, Mary, and to my mom, Patricia! And wishing all of you and all of the beautiful mothers and mothers to be we see every day at Next Step a beautiful Mother’s Day, P.S. Save the Date! The Next Step Gala is on Saturday September 19th, at Holy Rosary in Edmonds!Visit https://nssupport.org/event-details/ for more information. Invites and registration coming in July. If you are a business or organization and would like to be a sponsor for our event or if you have an item, service, or experience you’d like to offer for our Silent Auction or our world famous Dessert Auction drop me an email! heather@nextstepnw.com

You may recall several blog reflections ago in December I shared that there was a very important legal case going before the U.S. Supreme Court that involved a Pregnancy Clinic in New Jersey very similar to Next Step. The case is First Choice Women’s Resource Center vs. Platkin. Oral arguments were heard and after months of work and deliberation a verdict has finally come down and it is a win. A big one! I said I’d keep you posted and I am happy to share! 

Here is the article that the ADF, Alliance Defending Freedom, Firm has just released describing the victory and its far-reaching implications for pregnancy clinics just like YOUR local PRC – Next Step Pregnancy Services. Please read on.

https://tinyurl.com/ADFVictory

And while I’m on my soapbox and if you need another reason to celebrate ADF is not alone. Another dynamic legal firm standing by our side is The Thomas More Society, a not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and freedom. This week this principled legal firm is also working diligently to defend our work.  Currently a Summary Judgment hearing in People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions (a PRC like Next Step) —is in the works on a lawsuit in which California seeks to prohibit pro-life pregnancy centers from sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), a protocol that uses progesterone to counteract the effects of the first abortion pill (mifepristone). A service that Next Step Pregnancy Services has been offering to women since 2023! The state targets the First Amendment rights of Heartbeat International and RealOptions, which connect women with APR treatment after they begin a chemical abortion, change their minds, and seek to save their children’s lives. Women deserve to be informed of every option and to know that hope remains—even when a decision feels final. Below is a link to the article for the full details as well as a link to the St. Thomas More Society page.  https://tinyurl.com/TMoreSocietyPendingJudgementhttps://www.thomasmoresociety.org/ As always, Next Step does not shrink from speaking clearly about who we are. We are unapologetically pro-life and pro-family. We invite you to join us in a prayer of thanksgiving for those in the legal field who diligently work to protect pregnancy resource clinics and stand firm in the face of injustice.Thank you for your unfailing support for our work and the work of clinics like Next Step.  ***The image you see is of Next Step Baby Rose and her mom Rahad courtesy of GlimmerGlass***P.S. Save the Date! Our annual Gala will be held on Saturday September 19th at Holy Rosary in Edmonds. Invites are in the mail in July!  Interested in sponsoring the event or donating an item to our Silent Auction or Dessert Auction? Drop me a line! heather@nextstepnw.com P.P.S. If you are new to the mailing list and want to check out past blog reflections let me know or visit nssupport.org