Pam Baker, executive director of Abria Pregnancy Resources in Minneapolis and St. Paul, said she became the executive director because of prayers that the Holy Spirit would guide her steps while walking the Camino de Santiago in 2023.
For an episode of “Practicing Catholic” set to air at 9 p.m. Sept. 19 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, Baker shared with co-hosts Leah Heselton and Father Tom Margevicius that she spent three decades as a labor and delivery nurse.
“I started off as a Navy nurse,” Baker said. “My husband and I met in the military. I spent eight years as a U.S. Naval officer out in California — San Francisco and San Diego. We moved back here to Minnesota in (19)98 where I started my community service as a labor and delivery nurse.”
Baker explained that Abria in Spanish means “to be open.” The pregnancy resource center opened in 1975. The pregnancy resource center provides ultrasounds, pregnancy and STI testing, but most importantly, Baker said, Abria offers mentorship.
“When a woman does choose to walk with a choice of parenting, they end up staying with us through classes,” Baker said. “We keep them, and we mentor them through relationships, healthy relationships, through birth, after birth. … Some of the things people don’t know is that we have these robust classes and that we have an amazing boutique with material goods that they can provide them with the resources they need to support their lifestyle.”
Baker explained that when a woman comes into Abria, staff are trained to meet these women where they are at. Women may need financial help or may be considering an abortion.
“We start with them wherever they’re at,” Baker said. “Our client advocates take them in, and we have to go through a script first that provides us with continuity of care for these women so that when we ultimately ask them about services, then we will provide them the appropriate resources, whether they are within our organization or within the plethora of organizations that we have built relationships with.”
Baker said she is astounded by the generosity of Abria’s community because the pregnancy resource center is completely donor-funded.
“There is an amazing amount of support in our community that keeps us alive and creating the legacy that my predecessors have established,” Baker said.
To hear more from Baker about Abria, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 and 2 p.m. Sept. 21.
Also on the show, Archbishop Bernard Hebda talks about how Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati teach the faithful about courage, charity and authentic discipleship in the digital age.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
