2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate?

I had the most amazing morning today. I had to wake up extra early and travel on busy public transit during rush hour to a corporate-area of town that I usually try to avoid, but it was all worth it! One of the abortion clinics that our hosting organization partners with held their first ever appreciation breakfast for the volunteers who work with them. This included volunteers who host their clients overnight in homes and also the volunteers who help women fundraise to pay for their procedures.

This clinic is not a non-profit, not a feminist center, and not a Planned Parenthood. They are a for-profit clinic that has impressed me time and time again with their commitment to all of their clients, not just the ones paying full cost or using private insurance. The physician who runs the clinic is visibly invested in his clients and I have been on the phone with him multiple times regarding clients and making sure their arrangements for travel and care are all set. He defies stereotypes of abortion providers and physicians in general.

I do not do this work to be thanked or appreciated, in fact that is what I love about hosting clients. I do not have to attend meetings, events, or trainings and I rarely have my face recognized as a player in the reproductive rights movement. I sometimes receive thanks from the clients I host, but not always, and that is ok with me. However, there was something very special about being appreciated this morning. I feel like what I do is usually so easy, and I really do not need a big show of thanks. If anything, I want to thank the providers, specifically the doctors, nurses, counselors, and clinic staff. They are the (s)heroes in my book and I am so thankful for what they do. I have been on that end and I know how nice it is to be appreciated.

As I said above, I don’t ask for appreciation from the clients I host, but sometimes I hear from them the night after their procedure, or a few days later, or maybe a week or two. Here’s what some of them had to say (and yes I save them on my phone for those days when I need some TLC):

(note: all messages are via text and exactly as I received them):

“Yea…Thanx 4 being concerned because I really needed it. My heart got so broken when I got home…U made me really comfy though n I appreciated it.”

“Everything went fine an were about 20 minutes from home thank u very much 4 everything we both can not thank you enough”

“It’s ZZZZ we just got home. Thank u a lot u r a very good person…”

“everything is great YYYYY is better and im back 2 work thank u again 4 everything u r great!!”