SABA Leader Connect
Connecting leaders to leaders.
SABA Leader Connect
Leader Connect S2E10: Susan Anderson
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This week on Leader Connect, we talk to Susan Anderson, Executive Director of Wiregrass Hope.
Links Mentioned:
www.supportwiregrasshope.com/walkforlife
Well, hey folks, welcome to season two of Leader Connect. Uh this year we're gonna be focusing a little bit different than on just our associational ministers. We're gonna be reaching out across the state and Southern Baptist Convention to bring others into this uh opportunity for you to get to know them a little bit and find out how they you might can use them in ministry in your local church. So we hope you enjoy this episode. Good day, folks. Welcome to another episode of Leader Connect, and we have special guests with us today, Susan Anderson. Susan is the executive director of Wiregrass Hope, and so we're gonna find out a little bit about her. So welcome to the program.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're glad to have you. Of course, tons of people probably know about Wiregrass Hope, but they may not know a lot about Susan.
SPEAKER_01About me. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So we want to find out about Susan today. Tell us about your background.
SPEAKER_01Well, I um I'm originally from Slocum, Alabama, grew up there. Um, met my high school sweetheart. We got married, went to church together. His dad was our pastor growing up at Malvern Baptist Church. So been a part of the Saba family. Well, I guess it was the Columbia Baptist Association prior to then. That's my family's home church as well, and my parents still go there. But grew up in the Malvern area, um, graduated from Troy with a degree in accounting. And uh my husband and I started Eagle Eye Outfitters back in 1999. We have two daughters, a 22-year-old and a 19-year-old, both of them senior and freshmen at the University of Alabama, Roll Time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we'll let we'll let me get away with that one.
SPEAKER_01Let me get away with that one. Um, but yeah, we started our bus family business um back in 1999, and uh a few years ago, the Lord had just been working on my heart about a ministry that's been dear to me for 20 years, and I can kind of give you a little bit of a background story about me getting involved at Wiregrass Hope. Um, after the birth of our second daughter, McKenzie, in 2007, I had really bad postpartum depression, never had any mental illness issues. And my ABG Wayne referred me to Wiregrass Hope for some counseling there. And uh I went in 2007 and I really stuck around till now. So 19 years later, I'm still part of the ministry in some capacity. But yeah, just fell in love with the ministry, the women there. I ended up starting to volunteer and went through their mentor training program, just love what they did with working with crisis pregnancy and just helping new moms in general. I mean, from the time they find out about conception up until the babies are two years old, we have a program to cover the full span, and we we cover everything during that time frame that a parent can be walking through. And uh so it started off volunteering. We had our accountant there at Wiregrass Hope resign. So when they haven't an accounting background, I took that on for a period of time until we could get someone else in. And then as my girls were getting bigger, got in school, our business was growing, we had expanded and bought a new building for Eagle Eye. I just take a step back, and Miss Harriet Fault was the executive director then, and she persuaded me into going on to the board of directors. So about 2012, 2011, 2012, I started serving um in capacity with the board of directors, served on and off with them um up until a few years ago. And back in 2020, when we were coming out of COVID, the Lord was just working on my heart about um calling me into something different, calling me into something more, sent and taught with our pastor. I go to church now at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, taught with Brother Ray about it, about just the struggle between our family business and feeling a uh called into the ministry in some capacity. And uh it has been the most rewarding job, I think. I don't even view it as a job. I mean, I feel like it's my calling.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_01Um, been there since 2024, so for the last two years as the executive director.
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_01So and the Lord has just blessed that time um personally, and I mean it's been hard, you know, we've had spiritual attacks on our family and just in general, but um it has been rewarding just to be able to see what juggling two careers, two different avenues, and two daughters in college, uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00Uh all of those changes, empty nesters and all of that rolled in there at one time. So I'm sure that has brought its challenges.
SPEAKER_01It has, but it it's been good. Looking back over the last few years, it's been a good season.
SPEAKER_00Well, let's find out uh what do you like to do when you're not doing white grass hope or eagle eye or running to a toy or to Tuscaloosa for a running back and forth to Tuscaloosa for season ticket holders? What do you like to do? What are your what are your hobbies?
SPEAKER_01We love athletics. Okay. So we we are season ticket holders for football games. We try to catch a basketball game, gymnastics as much as we can. Um, outdoors, anything outdoors. Um love the Forever Wild Trails, you'll find me out there quite a bit. And uh we've got a pool and a backyard. Pretty much when the weather's pretty, that's where I'm at.
SPEAKER_00That's where you are, hanging out in the sun.
SPEAKER_01Hanging out outside.
SPEAKER_00We were just talking about that, and Allie was saying how much she likes that it's warming up and she can be outside. Yeah. So that's good. That's good. Well, um, in your shift from Eagle Eye to Wildgrass Hope, how has that transition been? I'm sure it helped a little bit having had the background of being involved with the organization, but how has that been? What's been your challenge?
SPEAKER_01From a nonprofit and going from the standpoint of a lot of things was transferable over from um just the executive side of things. I felt like I was well equipped to take care of that and vision casting, um, the accounting and financial side, but learning donor relations, um, being the one out speaking and doing speaking engagements, that's been a new area for me. Usually I've always been kind of in the background and doing doing the accounting and the operational side of things when I was at Eagle Eye. But um, I've actually really enjoyed that and enjoyed that side, just getting to meet people. Meet people and the donor relations grant writing, that's new for me as well. But some of that was transparent.
SPEAKER_00I've never had to write one, I've been a part of some being written, but that's uh quite a complicated process in terms of it.
SPEAKER_01Yes, but it's good, it's good too.
SPEAKER_00Good. Well, what what other what challenges do you see ahead for Y Grass Hope? Well, we have got three big initiatives for this year.
SPEAKER_01So I just ask everyone to be praying for um wisdom and discernment how we're handling these. Our board, over the last few years, we have been blessed financially, and um felt like the Lord was calling us to expand our ministry in some different areas. We saw um a change with the health department that came down spring of last year, where the Alabama Department of Public Health as a whole, the whole statewide, stopped doing pregnancy tests for uninsured women.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, they would start referring them to their local crisis pregnancy center. Well, our numbers doubled starting March of last year, so it's right at a year now that that's happened. Year over year we would see we were averaging right at a hundred pregnancy tests a month, um doing 80 to 90 um ultrasounds, which we offer for free as well. But it also was a great opportunity for us to be able to expand that's giving instead of just going into a clinical environment like the pre uh like the health department, they're able to come in and see us. And with that, we're able to share the gospel because first and foremost, that's our mission is to share the hope of Jesus Christ. That's what's gonna transform families. But um, just having that opportunity to be able to see more clients, but we were limited on space. We were also seeing a huge growth in mental health needs in the Waregrass area.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And uh our three licensed counselors that we had on staff were keeping long waitless. Many of y'all know Reagan Ferris, he's the duty pastor at Calvary, but he's also the director of counseling for Warecross Hope.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um he decided about six months ago to leave Providence, and he's come on full-time with us. And the board had given us approval, and I really felt like the Lord was calling us to expand our counseling services. Yes, we have our pregnancy center, and this and we want to make sure we didn't have mission creep with that as well because we were founded as a crisis pregnancy center, but we've seen growth in our fatherhood program. We were seeing more and more opportunities for marriage counseling, pre-marriage counseling. And what do we do to disciple these families to get them to stay together? And our goal at the end of those first two years, after we see a parent through the second year of their baby's life, success for us is seeing them in a church where they can feather their discipleship. But getting them to that point, a lot of times we need to be able to provide counseling services. And we have strong relationships with local churches, but I get calls every week from a pastor that has a family in crisis in their church, or a church member that's struggling with their gender identity, and there's a lot of things that we just weren't equipped to do, but they wanted to refer to us because they knew our biblical counseling model. They wouldn't find just anywhere. That's right. So outside of us and Natalie Baptist Children's Home that has limited counseling there, but they keep a wait list and Livin' Waters and Headland, those were really the only Christian counseling centers in the Wiregrass area as a whole. So we were keeping two to three month wait list and just felt like the Lord was calling us to do something.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So um actually in about two weeks, we're helping the Monday after um Easter, April 6th, we're gonna be opening a separate counseling center. Right. We rented an office space out West Maine. Right. And um the board has also approved for us to hire some additional counselors. We've hired one, and that is Amy Edge. Okay, that just started back with us. That was the former executive director prior to me taking the position. Yeah, she had shared with me where she felt like she was being called to get back into um counseling services. She really missed the clinical side of being in front of clients whenever she stepped away from the executive director. So she's finished her master's degree and working on her licensing. But um, yeah, we're hoping to start seeing clients April 6th, and Reagan will be running our counseling service.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, how many counselors do you anticipate being able to have?
SPEAKER_01All together we've got room for five.
SPEAKER_00Five, okay. Well that's five.
SPEAKER_01We're still looking for one more. We would love to get another male counselor to handle men's and marriage counseling.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I know that's a huge demand, and they're they're saying even on um church staff that that's gonna be one of the new positions that a lot of churches are gonna have to consider is bringing on counsel pastoral counseling. Um more than the pastors can handle. Yes. Uh and then, like you say, most uh Christian-based counselors keep a wait list uh and just it's just hard to keep up with the demands of today and the different um mental health issues that are arising, and even you know, young adults and teenagers facing uh those things. And so we're certainly be praying that the the center I know y'all are gonna do well. Uh I have no doubts about that. You probably end up with a waiting list there, even with five.
SPEAKER_01And I feel like we probably will. Um we've only signed a two-year lease at this location, and this is just kind of a model for us to be able to see a test run to see exactly what the needs are. My dream and Reagan's dream, as long as he keeps riding this train with me, is to be able to see a larger family life counseling center one day in the Wiregrass area. His dream is to be able to provide resources to local churches as well, okay, to where we could do some lay counselor training.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um, and long term, I mean, he's a natural gifted teacher. He would love to be able to offer that.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Um long term, that's what we're hoping. Okay. If we can get a large enough facility to be able to offer some classes.
SPEAKER_00Awesome.
SPEAKER_01Well, if uh outside of the counseling aspect of things with White Rest Hope, what are some other needs that uh you have for well we are with moving our counselors out of our current location, that's going to allow us to expand our pregnancy center. We'll be able to get four more offices. The Knights of Columbus here in Dothan gave us a grant for $45,000 a couple months ago to buy another ultrasound machine. So we have two ultrasound machines. Yeah, so we're really excited about that. And the one ultrasound tech we have right now is um she keeps her her schedule full. Yeah, so we're looking forward to being able to add a second. Sometimes we'll have a client come in that and we've already got someone booked for an ultrasound, but she might be abort very abortion-minded. And what we've learned is if we can get an ultrasound and let that mama see a heartbeat, there is about an 80% chance she's going to choose life. Yep. And especially if the father's with her as well. The father is such a makes a huge impact. Makes a huge impact. So we just want to have the opportunity to have two rooms there to be able to expand. And our fatherhood program has really grown too. We're seeing more and more men, especially since the health department has stopped seeing women. We're seeing more and more women uh men come in with the mamas. Okay. Um, some are married, a lot of them are, you know, just casual relationships, but having them come in, and we've got a team of um volunteers, volunteer men that work with us. Some of them are local pastors that just give us a couple hours a week. Okay. Um, like uh Charles Uptane from Calvary, he's one of ours. Clay Great House from um Memphis is one of ours. And it's just neat, and then we've got some retired professional men that'll come in that just want to pour into young men and teach them what it means to be a father. A lot of the guys we have coming in have never seen you know a positive meal in their life.
SPEAKER_00That's true.
SPEAKER_01So it's been neat to just see that. Wally Roper from Ridgecrest is also another one of ours, and he had a young man get saved a couple weeks ago. Okay. Um that was walking through the program. Yeah, so it has been neat to see that. So we're hoping to be able to add an additional counseling area for our fatherhood program too, with that. Well, if if someone wanted to volunteer in any of those areas as a whether it's fatherhood initiative or yeah, we've got fatherhood, we have got um the pregnancy center to be able to just mentor and walk alongside pregnant mamas as they're walking through the pregnancy, and then we have postpartum and afterbaby care from the time the babies are born until their babies are two years old. Okay. Um so we do an after-baby program just walking through, okay, what's this mean to eating, or breastfeeding issues, or when babies start trying to communicate and walking and child nutrition. Um, we've got a whole set of curriculum that we walk through with new moms. We also screen all of our moms that are in our after-baby program for postpartum depression. Sure. And we have a licensed counselor that specializes just in that that will meet one-on-one with the moms that screen them.
SPEAKER_00And um, for those that may be praying about or seeking that ministry that God would have them be a part of, what kind of time is required to be a good license?
SPEAKER_01We ask a minimum of two hours a week. Two hours a week. If they can two to four hours a week would be phenomenal if they can get us. If they do two, then they can usually get in two clients a week. Okay. Because we schedule an hour appointment, usually lasts about four. We we do them in hour increments. Okay. But that way, and I and also we really like for them to come every week so they can build a relationship. They might see the same two clients. We'll schedule them to where they can build that relationship and really mentor. We've seen so many that have ended up going to churches with their mentors and getting plugged into a church in that capacity.
SPEAKER_00That's good, that's good. So uh two to four hours a week. Um, and I'm I'm sure that their start schedule would be dependent upon um availability of clients coming in and their schedule to and their schedule as well.
SPEAKER_01On Mondays, we're open um 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. We stay open late on Mondays. So if anyone even wants to work from six to eight on a Monday evening, we can accommodate that. But that allows some of our working uh parents to be able to come in after hours. That's good. And then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we see clients from eight to five. Eight to five. Great. And there's training available in the city. Oh yeah, we do we do a full training. You will not see a client until we work through the full mentor. It's about a six-week training process.
SPEAKER_00That's good. So, folks, if you're looking for an opportunity to uh minister to individuals, families, uh that's a great, great opportunity, great place to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01And we do have our after baby boutique if someone just wants to be able to um volunteer to come and sort donations for we and and they can come whenever to do that. They can just call us and say, hey, we've got a few hours gonna come, sort baby donations. And uh we also have some um moms, new moms, Bible study classes in our after baby program to where we love to have some moms or grandmothers that just want to come and love on babies so they're the mamas can be in bible.
SPEAKER_00Wow, a whole host of different ways to volunteer, different opportunities to whatever uh fit your schedule and lifestyle and uh needs. And so your talents we'll put you to work. That's right, that's good, that's good, love it. Well, and uh you mentioned early on that uh with the health department um not doing pregnancy tests, you guys are doing way more pregnancy tests than ever, which means more opportunities to hopefully bring them in the program much sooner than you might have gotten them before.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And then we're starting now to see since they made that change more in our after-baby program is growing. They're staying all the way through.
SPEAKER_00They're staying all the way through. That's good. So you're ministering as as best as possible to those who want to, they're seeking help uh and made to feel good about that. And I know the baby boutique is set up uh in a uh neat way and great opportunity for parents to go shop. But I'm really excited that the fatherhood initiative has taken off the way it has. I know it initially it's hard to get men to to suck it up and come in and be a part of it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but that's really one of our fastest growing areas. Oh, and that's great.
SPEAKER_00Um men need to step up and take responsibility and learn the skills that they need and be to be the spiritual leader of their family. That's right.
SPEAKER_01And that's always a key component of our program.
SPEAKER_00We all have an event happening uh the week after Easter, I believe. You want to tear it, share a little bit?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm doing the walk for life. It is out at Forever Wild Trails off Flowers Chapel Road. Um, it's a one mile loop. We're just gonna be we're taking donations um the the day of, or you can purchase t-shirts, you can go to our website at supportwiregrossope.com backslash walk for life, or you can find it on our Facebook page and register. Okay. So and it's from um 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. We're also gonna have a couple of fun races that day if you like to run. We're gonna have a pastor's dash for any local pastors when uh the winner wins a pre-pair of shoes from Eagle Live. We got each categories too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there you go. Oh if I'm running, it's because somebody's chasing me. My body's too tired to run it.
SPEAKER_01Brother Jim Tate told me that too when I was thinking on him about running in it, and he said his dash of days were over.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but it's those those are kind of behind.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and doing a kids' race too, and we have medals for the kids with different age categories.
SPEAKER_00Well, it'd be a lot of fun, fun time for the family.
SPEAKER_01Kind of inflatables, and we've got some food trucks lined up to do that, too.
SPEAKER_00Great. So come out and support WarBress Hope and uh have a good time with the family and um get out and out and about and uh forever trails and just have a good time.
SPEAKER_01It's beautiful out there. They just opened up a dog park out there as well.
SPEAKER_00Have you seen it since they've opened up there for the each nice area with a big picnic pavilion as well?
SPEAKER_01Okay. So people, if you want to bring your dogs, that's where you're welcome to.
SPEAKER_00Come on out. Well, as we uh kind of wrap up here, is there anything else that you want uh the folks in the Wildgrass to know about Susan or Wildgrass Hotel?
SPEAKER_01Well, I tell you, there's one other big initiative we have this year, and it's coming together real well. Over the last two years, we have seen more and more homeless women or women that are housing insecure come into our center. Okay, and many of y'all are familiar with Love and Action downtown, Kenamartha Tuck. They were seeing more come to their Samaritan's clinic. They are the medical clinic that's open on Thursdays, Dr. Crockett and Dr. Stokes run in, and uh they weren't prepared to do pregnancy tests, and a lot of the women were childbearing age, so they would just transport a Martha most of the time, or one of their female volunteers would bring them to us. And we've had a few that were pregnant, we've had a few that we have gotten into some maternity homes in North Alabama. Okay. Well, they ended up receiving a grant and remodeled, Love and Action received a grant and remodeled a space adjacent to their Samaritan's clinic, and we are planning on opening a satellite clinic there to open on Thursday afternoons with their Smaradins clinic. So if they have any women come in, we'll we're gonna do STI testing for sexually transmitted diseases. We do that there at the office as well. But be doing that pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. And we had um the clinic women's medical center out of Enterprise. Many of y'all might have seen where they were closing their doors. Um, in fact, the end of March. Um they called us and donated their ultrasound machine to us, so we're gonna be able to use it in the um Love and Action Clinic. So we'll have a have an ultrasound machine there. So just be praying for us. We've just got a lot of moving parts that you've got.
SPEAKER_00The ministry is expanding counseling and the satellite for the pregnancy.
SPEAKER_01The satellite for the pregnancy testing.
SPEAKER_00Uh so that's a need for more volunteers, need for more volunteers, yes.
SPEAKER_01And any medical volunteers as well that might be interested in helping us on Thursday afternoons at Love and Action. We need someone that could do a blood draw, so at least an LPN. And if any ultrasound technicians, sonographers out there that would like to volunteer to work with us, we would that are pro-life. Sure. Um, that would um enjoy volunteering with us, we would love to have some additional medical staff.
SPEAKER_00Well, I appreciate what you what you're allowing God to do through the ministry there, and I know y'all are uh in tune with uh being pro-life, obviously, uh, but giving folks an opportunity to hear about it that may not have known what you really do. Yeah. And it's grown so much over recent years from just being uh crisis pregnancy system.
SPEAKER_01Just the crisis pregnancy now to wear. And what we really view ourselves as is not just pro-life, but pro-abundant life. We want to see the moms and the dads have an abundant life as well, because that's really what's gonna change the trajectory of family.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Well, Susan, thanks so much for being with us today.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for allowing me to come on.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's uh it's a joy. We'll do it again.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Uh but we're gonna pray for the success of all of these ministries that you're beginning, and that God will provide volunteers and resources.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for being with us today.
SPEAKER_01Okay, thank you, Brother John.
SPEAKER_00So we'll catch you next week on Leader Connect.