Bringing a new child into the home can be a scary time for anyone. It can fill the parent with several emotions; typically, it’s joy, but sometimes it’s stress, anxiety, and concern. The Pregnancy Cocoon Center in Mineral Wells is here to help every family through these emotions.
Christie Dorr launched the project in 2005. The project was initially located in a donated building on Fort Walters. The center had to seek out other ways of funding for a new space. The Cocoon became apart of the Baptist Association of Palo Pinto County. In becoming a part of the association, the Cocoon was able to find a permanent residence at 1300 SW 4th Ave, Mineral Wells, TX 76067 in 2017.
There have been a lot of updates to the program since then in order to better assist the community. In the beginning, the center was only able to offer small assistance such as diapers, and wipes. Now, they can offer a multitude of services to families in the area, such as cribs, new pack N plays, clothes, infant car seats, emergency formula, pregnancy tests, confirmation paperwork for Medicaid, WIC application assistance, and much more. This program is strictly volunteer-based and donation based. The community of Mineral Wells supports this resource center as well, by holding 5K runs and baby bottle drives. Christie is also a certified Biblical counselor from the Southwestern seminary, so she counsels anyone who wants help no matter the situation. This program is meant for anyone from all walks of life. Christie feels very strongly that, “So, that we, we have every age, come in here we have lots of grandparents that come that have custodial rights of their grandkids, and they come in we help them out as well so there’s not any kind of requirement to use our services…”.
Cocoon also became a part of the international heartbeat, a nationwide organization that helps mothers build a relationship with their new babies. It has made a significant change to the program because it provided Cocoon with a sonogram machine. This is important because it helps mothers build bonds with their unborn babies. It calms anxieties, and if a mother is considering abortion, Cacoon hopes mothers are less likely to take that option after getting the opportunity to have that bonding experience. This is a significant part of Caccon Pregnancy’s mission as a pro-life organization. “ We believe that every life from conception to death is valuable to the Lord.”
Cocoon Resource center has been a tremendous help to the community since the crisis of COVID-19. Volunteers have helped Christie through the pandemic. These volunteers will stand outside for curbside drop-offs of diapers, wipes, or anything they needed weekly.
“I think the first day that I did curbside. We were open from 10 to noon, and we had 26 cars come through into ours to get diapers, and most of those were people I’d never seen before. And they were losing jobs.”
Christie Dorr
It made a special difference to a woman named Samantha Rogers, who gave a beautiful testimony of what Cocoon has done for her family over the years. “I started with my first pregnancy, they helped me confirm it, and helped me get pregnancy Medicaid in 2012… I struggled to get diapers after having my daughter, and they helped so wonderfully by giving diapers and wipes every week! Struggling through, even now with Covid, they helped us so much. We lost our jobs, and they prayed over us every week. And it helped us find our way. The words of encouragement and letting us know that they were there helped me a lot and showed me how much they truly cared.”
Cocoon Pregnancy Resource Center has become a place of hope for all families in need. It has taken a lot of work and time, but their efforts have changed Palo Pinto County’s lives. Christie says it best, “Well, I like to think that it’s a little bit of a beacon on a corner. Just a lot where people can come and that they’re gonna find a friendly face. It’s going to give them a little bit of relief for that.”
Writer | I graduated from Weatherford College with an Associates in Art, focusing on history, creative writings, sociology, and humanities. Experience in child development, client care, and runs local Spoken Word Poetry group for young teens.
