History
From the beginning, our story is one of determination and creativity in our efforts to save women and their children from abortion. We intentionally planted ourselves close to the largest abortion provider in America at our beginning, and have continued to push into hostile territory ever since.
2009 – We opened our first center one block away from the largest abortion provider in the U.S.
2011 – We converted to a medical facility and expanded our services to include ultrasound to better meet the needs of our clients.
2012 – We began our in-school education “Truth Tour” program, offering education to high school health classes about STDs and sexual risk avoidance.
2013 – We added STD testing and treatment to our list of services for our clients.
2014 – We renovated and moved to our first stand-alone facility where our client traffic doubled.
2016 – We developed a dedicated Education & Resource Department and added Resource Specialists to aid clients with extended services, referrals, and education, to help empower them to make life-affirming choices and get on their feet.
2017 – We purchased land directly adjacent to the largest abortion provider in the Midwest.
2018 – We began a capital campaign for our new clinic and started construction on the building.
2019 – Our new Waterleaf Clinic and Aspire Education and Resource Center opened for business!
2020 – We remained open and successfully continued to support women and men facing an unplanned pregnancy along with STD testing and treatment during the worldwide Covid 19 pandemic, seeing a 35% increase in patients during this time.
2021: We joined the Heartbeat International Abortion Pill Rescue Network providing a supportive alternative to women who would like to reverse their chemical abortion after taking the first pill, mifepristone (RU-486).
2022 – We implemented a virtual care service, Telehealth, to provide women immediate access to healthcare with one of our nurses. Immediate access to a medical professional is critical to a women’s health and safety when she is considering an abortion. Our virtual care services are supervised by our own medical director, Dr. Anthony Leazzo.
2023 – Since the decision to overturn Roe V Wade in June, 2022, we have continued to be committed to helping all women and protecting their unborn babies. We are definitely engaged in a spiritual battle, and God calling us to do more. Together will will answer God’s call by standing up for life in a state where there is no protection for the unborn and abortion is legal without any restrictions.
Please partner with us as we continue serving women and men, providing them the resources and support they need to choose life. We’re excited to see where God leads and how he will use YOU to save babies and their mothers and fathers from abortion in Illinois!
2024 – Staying true to our mission, “to equip women to make life-affirming decisions” we are very excited to announce that we are moving forward and preparing to expand our building to offer early pre-natal services to those women most at risk for abortions. Providing immediate early pre-natal care removes some of the common reasons women seek an abortion: they don’t have a doctor, don’t have insurance, have a history of difficult pregnancies, or may be suffering from extreme nausea.
Waterleaf will also be offering annual wellness exams to qualified patients to help young women learn to honor their bodies through a deeper understanding of their cycles. Both prenatal and wellness services will include standard services such as pap smears, breast exams, and full-panel screening for sexually transmitted infections (STD). Additionally, our nurses will be available to consult, test, and treat women who may be experiencing urinary tract infections or other concerns.
To accommodate these enhanced services, Waterleaf is in the process of a building expansion that includes two new exam rooms, an advanced practitioner’s office, a new nurse station, and a redesigned lab and medication prep room. Three new administrative offices will be added to help make room for the expansion of Aspire, our Resource and Education division. The conference room will be expanded and equipped with multi-media technology so it can also serve as a Life Education Center.
Read more about the various services and programs we offer. See how God might lead you to help us provide more life-saving resources to abortion-vulnerable women and their babies.