By Amber Jurgensen | Staff Writer
One look at the Preti family’s cozy apartment says a lot about the family. Family pictures hang above a sofa that has colorful children’s books spread across the cushions. A baby boy coos as he crawls around, following his older sisters wherever they go. Some toys have been abandoned on the floor, including a beaded homemade bracelet, a rattle.
JJ, a Beta fish, watches the family from a spot on the counter. The family just had a play date and a pool outing. Hair still wet, three sisters sit obediently on the couch next to their mother, Blair. She sits each girl in front of her to comb out the tangles and make the girls more presentable. When she’s finished, Blair picks up 9-month-old son, Everett. The girls — Chayce, 8, Payton, 6, and Ryleigh, 3 — find a way to occupy themselves.
The family is happy, smiling and content. Little would an outsider know that the Pretis recently had serious struggles that sent them looking for help.
In 2010, husband and father James Preti was laid off from his job at Virginia Sprinkler Co., in Tampa.
“Out of the blue they just said, ‘Sorry, we’re downsizing,’” Blair says.
The parents had their hands full with three children.
“It was really hard,” Blair says. “Especially hard on him being the provider. It was rejection after rejection, coming home night after night with disappointment after disappointment. We loved hearing, ‘You’re over-qualified.’”
When Blair suspected she was pregnant with Everett at the beginning of 2011, it was bittersweet. The former wedding photographer always knew she wanted to be a mother with a big family. Blair had two siblings, her husband had six. She was used to the madhouse that big families can be and was ready to have a brother for her girls.
But James still did not have a job, and he was devoting many hours to getting a drafting degree at Southwest Florida College in Tampa.
“As a stay-at-home mom, I was devastated because I didn’t bring in any income,” Blair says.
And that’s when the Pretis found Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City.
GODSEND
Since 1992, the center has offered free services, parental counseling, abstinence education and material assistance.
The center also offers assistance, called “baby bucks,” to those who attend classes, which can be used at the on-site store to purchase items such as diapers, cleaning supplies, clothes and toys.
Shortly after the family found out Blair was pregnant, James got a job in Lakeland, but it was in air conditioning (not his career field). Furthermore, James was working for far less pay, and the difficult hours that made it hard for the family to have dinner together, or even see James that often in the first place.
“He had never been in AC before so it was like starting over,” Blair says.
So, Blair continued to go to classes to earn her “baby bucks.”
“It was a godsend,” Blair says of the center. “It helped us stay on our feet.”
Although she was having her fourth baby, Blair says the classes still were helpful. The center offers practical classes such as car-seat safety and what to expect when you’re expecting. Blair’s favorite classes were theories of discipline and those dealing with child behavior.
“I liked learning about what stages children learn different things,” Blair says.
The center also offered other intangible benefits — since she started attended classes, Blair has become close with one of the employees.
“I know if I needed anything outside of the Pregnancy Care Center, I could call her,” Blair says. “They’re really encouraging and helpful. It can be difficult with multiples.”
ON THEIR FEET
These days, the Preti family is having a little easier time. James found another job that allows him to spend more time with his family. They are involved with their church, First Baptist Church of Midway. They also go to the Bruton Memorial Library and YMCA and are getting involved in tee ball.
“For me, I look at motherhood quite differently,” Blair says. “It’s a ministry in itself for me. They are a blessing from God. My favorite things are to see them come into their own personalities.”
Although Blair still attends classes, she is ready to start volunteering at the center now that the family has found more stability.
“I want to give back the way they gave to us,” Blair says.
RENOVATIONS
The Pregnancy Care Center of Plant City is nearing completion of its 2,614-square-foot building at 304 N. Collins St.
“Before, we were a bland little building,” Executive Director Darlene Davis said. “Now, we have an interior decorator that is going to do a modern flair that will appeal to younger people.”
The renovations also will make the building more private for the patients. Before, patients had to enter each room from outside. Now, the five patient rooms have been sectioned into 12 rooms with access from within the building.
The Baby Boutique will be moved from across the street into the main building. A waiting room and board room which can double as a staff training room has been added. All the plumbing, electrical wiring and air conditioning has been replaced.
“We’re all going to be under one roof,” Davis says. “I’m so excited. We’re in the home stretch.”
The Pregnancy Center raised $80,000 for the renovations with help by anonymous donors. Plant City’s First Baptist Church donated the building.
“There is going to be a whole new group of people that will hear about us and come to know where we’re out,” Davis says.
As part of Lowe’s Hero project, 12 employees will be come to the center Aug 11, to paint the exterior of the building. Fourteen members from Plant City’s First Baptist Church also have volunteered to paint.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.