Our Mission

The Northwest Center seeks to promote the dignity of women and a respect for all human life. We seek to accomplish this goal by offering the loving support and comprehensive aid necessary to enable all women to continue their pregnancies, deliver healthy babies, and adequately care for themselves and their children.

History

Founded in 1981 by alumni and students of Georgetown University, The Northwest Center has helped more than 56,314 women and children in the Washington DC area. In 2017, our pregnancy center assisted 1,244 mothers, fathers and children. In addition, in 2017, our maternity home provided housing and other comprehensive services to 6 women and 4 babies. In 2016, our pregnancy center provided more than 1,402 individuals with services such as counseling and material assistance, as well as connected them to prenatal care, medical and legal services, educational opportunities, job training and child care. In addition, in 2016, our maternity home provided housing and other comprehensive assistance to 6 women and 7 babies.

With both our maternity home and the pregnancy center programs, our mission is to support pregnant or parenting women in need, to act on our belief in the intrinsic value and dignity of all human life, and to provide for new beginnings for pregnant or parenting women. The Northwest Center believes that it is essential for every pregnant woman to have access to safe housing, food, clothing, medical care, and educational and/or job opportunities so that she can adequately provide for herself and her children. Our programs are designed to be more than a “band-aid solution,” rather we strive to effectuate real change in the lives of the women and children we serve. The ultimate goal of both programs is to enable our clients to achieve self-sufficiency, which we define as having sustainable employment, adequate health care and viable housing for themselves and their child(ren).

Today, The Northwest Center is recognized as a valuable part of the social services community of our nation’s capital, and we receive referrals from public and private agencies throughout the city. We have been heralded by Philanthropy magazine as one of 14 “highly effective agencies” in the nation, and Celebrate Life magazine claimed we were “a bastion of hope in the nation’s capital”. We have received the White House’s “Volunteer Services Award” presented by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the Corporation for National and Community Services, and the USA Freedom Corps. We were also one of only three programs nationwide to receive the “Intensive Care of Our Neighbor Award” from St. Joseph’s Health Care System.