Crossway to get new director

A family move is bringing a leadership change to CrossWay Pregnancy Resource Center.

Executive Director Maureen Wilcox compared passing on leadership of the organization she and her husband founded in 2001 to handing over the keys to a car to a newly licensed teenager.

“You taught them all these things, and now they’re out on their own and you can’t be with them,” she said.

The change became necessary after the Wilcox family moved to Phenix City, Ala., in August because Maureen Wilcox’s husband, Mark, got a job there. He is a consultant for the military.

Maureen Wilcox said the move also allows her to spend more time at home with her daughter.

“It’s kind of scary,” she said. “It’s kind of exciting. It’s a lot of things, really.”

She has been traveling to CrossWay periodically and plans to remain executive director for the rest of the year.

She hopes to maintain her connection with the Christian-focused organization, which provides services such as pregnancy tests, counseling and material help to women facing pregnancy.

Wilcox said the things she is most proud of during her time with CrossWay is seeing the faces of girls and women who chose to give birth and how glad they were later to have made that choice.

She said the incoming director, Shannan Goodrich, will continue the mission and services that help those people.

Goodrich, director of client services, has been working with CrossWay for three and a half years.

The Ekron resident was drawn to the organization because 23 years ago she became pregnant at 17 years old. She knew she wouldn’t have an abortion but was glad to have someone to speak with at a pregnancy center that was in Radcliff.

“I was just terrified,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

She said some girls don’t have the family support she did, so she wants to help those who face similar challenges in that situation.

That might even open opportunities for ministries, she said.

In coming years, the center will begin having post-abortive retreats and more in-depth parenting classes. It also will be important to get the word out about the center to better help people, Goodrich said.

“I’m very, very passionate about it,” she said. “I want to see the center do what it does.”

The Wilcox family has done a great job, she said.

“It’s just been an honor to serve with them,” she said.

Maureen Wilcox said she and her husband could not have done the things they have without Goodrich’s help

“Shannan is just an invaluable asset,” she said. “She has an eagerness to learn, and she wants to see the center continue.” 

Amber Coulter can be reached at (270) 505-1746 or acoulter@thenewsenterprise.com.