Life Center of Long Island

By Mary Gorry                                                                                     

Riverhead — The blanket on the floor of the classroom representing the “marriage bed” was crowded with students in one of the religion classes at McGann-Mercy High School here Feb. 14. Except for the “married couple,” each student represented part of a web of past sexual experiences. The demonstration on the physical and emotional baggage brought into a marriage by premarital sex was part of the two-week L.I. Teen Freedom program.

L.I. Teen Freedom is a federally-funded program run by the Life Center that teaches young people about abstinence, relationship building, and the skills they need to do both. McGann-Mercy is the first Catholic high school on Long Island to host the program, where male and female team leaders have been talking with the ninth- and tenth-graders for two weeks during their religion classes.

• Pregnancy Care Center
• AAA Pregnancy Options
• Networking with other support service organizations
• Promote Abstinence Education in Public & Private Schools
• To Increase men’s awareness of their vital roles as husbands and fathers
• Provide Post Abortion Counseling
• Speakers available on Life Issues

The Life Center exists to promote a Culture of Life among all God’s people, regardless of race, color or creed.

Our spirit of service is animated by the Judeo-Christian doctrine that every person is created in the image and likeness of God; endowed with the dual capacity to recognize the truth and respond to it by making loving, life-giving choices. In this light, we affirm that the dignity of each person can only be realized when seen in its full reality: a union of body and soul. As such, all services resonate with the awareness that the material, emotional and spiritual needs of the individual or family must all be acknowledged and addressed. This approach to service seeks to foster health in body and soul without advancing any particular religious denomination.