The Saint James AME Church, Pregnancy Care Ministry (PCM), was established in June 2022 by Jeffrey J. Dove, Pastor and Claudette Buchanan, Pregnancy Care Ministry Coordinator. The Saint James AME Church leadership discovered that the infant mortality rate in Northeast Florida is significantly higher than the state and national rates. Therefore, the Pregnancy Care Ministry was born out of a need to reduce the infant mortality rate in Clay County, by providing healthy foods, nutrition education, financial and spiritual support. We have provided mothers and families with fresh fruits and vegetables, gas cards, baby car seats, diapers, Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets.
The program operates with limited resources, but we are committed to seeing the ministry grow to impact even more mothers.
It is our goal to establish consistent monthly programming which would include classes on breastfeeding, the importance of prenatal care, proper car seat installation and healthy choices during/after pregnancy. We would also like to sponsor a minimum of five mothers per month with care packages (food for mom/items for baby) and stipends. The stipends would be used by moms to assist with gas, medical expenses, food and even utility bills. Through surveys that we have conducted with expecting/new moms one of their biggest concerns was the lack of financial assistance as they were having their children. Oftentimes they were out of work due to not having paid leave and it impacted them greatly. Our ministry would like to help alleviate financial burdens, as best as we can, for mothers.
St. James AME Church on McIntosh Avenue was founded in the late 1870s, with land donated from Washington and Harriet Benedict. It’s had several renovations since then but is generally considered one of the oldest churches in the area. The historic congregation is one of 400 AME churches in the state of Florida and the original building of the church is still standing today. We have a legacy of advocating and supporting underserved communities and it is our hope to continue to do this work for many years to come.
