How We Provide Complimentary Ultrasounds
“You mean we don’t have to pay — anything?” It’s a question we hear pretty often at Collage when clients are scheduling their appointments for our ultrasound services. We want to share a little with you about how we are able to pull it off.
Complimentary versus Free
Free is a four-letter word and we don’t care for it much. When it comes to our services it gives the wrong impression. Most people associate free with poor quality and a “least you can get by with” approach. If you’ve ever visited one of our offices, you know that’s not us. Free also isn’t an accurate description. Sure, we don’t charge our clients for ultrasounds, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a cost. Someone had to pay for the ultrasound machine, the supplies, and the time our ultrasound techs spend with clients, and reviewing results. All of that definitely isn’t “free.”
So why and how can we provide complimentary ultrasounds?
We care.
The staff at Collage truly cares about you. But it goes beyond that. When we say we care we mean everyone who makes it possible for us to serve our communities. Those people are our board of directors, our volunteers, and our financial supporters. They are your neighbors, your friends, and many people you have never and may never meet. They care so much about helping women that they provide the resources for us to accomplish our mission. We think it’s important for you to know that there are many people in Kearney, Grand Island, and the surrounding communities that care about you. They are the ones who make it possible for you to come into one of our Collage offices and receive the assistance you need.
Doesn’t the government fund you?
No, we’re 100% privately funded. The majority of our funding comes from individuals who want to help those facing unexpected circumstances. Any grants we apply for and receive come from private family or business foundations. It’s not that we think government funding is bad. We just don’t want to become dependent on funding that might not be available as government budget cuts occur. Our services are too important to our community to put them at risk by relying on government funding.
We have fantastic volunteers.
Not all of our support comes in the form of a check. We have many volunteers both their skills and time to allow us to better serve you. Sometimes those volunteers are peer counselors and sometimes they are medical professionals who come to Collage on their day off to assist our clients. We’re blown away by how much these volunteers care and want to help serve our community.
We have former clients who needed free pregnancy tests and are now giving back.
Although we don’t expect it or ask for it, women and men who have needed our services in the past have found hope through our organization. Sometimes years, even decades later, they come back wanting to help others who find themselves in the same situation and do so by either volunteering or supporting us financially.
We have amazing partnerships with local businesses and community groups.
There are many organizations throughout Central Nebraska that support Collage. Sometimes they do this volunteering, paying for our supplies—like our pregnancy tests, underwriting special trainings, or paying for our marketing materials. Sometimes local businesses offer us discounts for their services and sometimes they give financial or physical gifts. Our ultrasound services, which confirm viable pregnancies after a positive pregnancy test, are a beautiful example of a gift given through community groups. It isn’t just individuals who support Collage, but it is also long-standing, familiar organizations that you encounter every day.
We hope this helps answer your questions and concerns about how we can offer free ultrasounds and other services to our community and we want you to know that if you ever need our help we’re here for you.
