Natchitoches’ Women’s Resource Center dedicated its new education center and honored one of its most ardent supporters in a ribbon cutting held Monday, May 8. The new educational center was named the Rose Long Educational Center in honor of the long serving board member, advocate for the unborn and donor to the center’s mission.
Over 50 supporters of the WRC, along with Mayor Ronnie Williams, Parish President John Richmond, City Councilwoman Betty Sawyer-Smith, former NSU Coach Mike McConathy and Chamber of Commerce president Laura Lyles attended the ceremony. The ribbon was cut by Rose Long’s husband, former long time state senator Gerald Long. He was flanked on each side by his daughters Andrea Phillips and Pamela Jackson as well as WRC director Morgan LaCaze and a host of friends and supporters. Senator Long donated $1,000.00 to the Women’s Resource Center after the ribbon cutting.
The two-story facility is located in back of the center’s main building. The educational center features a comfortable classroom where mothers-to-be can learn about subjects such as personal finance, nutrition, fitting a baby seat and other subjects taught by volunteer teachers. The bottom floor features the “Little Rose Baby Boutique” in which new and expectant mothers can obtain everything from baby clothes to diapers, formula, and baby car seats.
The Women’s Resource Center has tirelessly served the families of our community since 1989, all at no cost to the women they serve. Rose Long, sadly taken from us all too soon in 2017, was a tireless advocate for the Women’s Resource Center, a cause dear to her heart. In thought, word and deed, in the way she lived her life, Rose Long was the epitome of what a Christian should be. The Rose Long Educational Center is an entirely fitting way to honor her memory and legacy of service to others.
