Total LifeCare Centers now TLC Options for Women

Almost 40 years ago, Sister Jeanne Therese Condon began the work of educating women about abortion alternatives through the first Total LifeCare Center — University LifeCare Center — near the University of Minnesota.

When she died in 1992, there were 15 affiliate centers. Now there are 32 in Minnesota and Wisconsin serving and educating women about their pregnancy options.

“Times have changed,” said Will Cossairt, executive director for the centers. “But the mission of saving mothers and babies from the horror of abortion has not.”

Cossairt said TLC began an effort about four years ago to determine if it was branding itself correctly. A group of colleagues came together to explore the question.

“One of the first things we agreed on was that our name, Total LifeCare Centers, described who we are — people who care for life in total, from beginning to end — but it didn’t describe well what we do or who we serve,” explained Cossairt.

“We also believed, and several other pro-life leaders around the country confirmed, that the words ‘life’ and ‘care’ were not effective in attracting the clients who might be in need of our services,” he continued.

“Another complication with the Life Care name,” he said, “was evident to anyone who answered the phone for us. We were often mistaken for fitness centers or nursing homes.”

Cossairt and his colleagues noticed that other pregnancy care centers around the country and even some of their own affiliates were way ahead of them in figuring this out.

“While at one time, virtually all of our affiliates used the words ‘Life Care’ in their name,” he said, “at the time of our branding group, we already had affiliates who had chosen more strategic names for themselves, names like Pregnancy Choices, Pregnancy Options, First Choice Pregnancy Services, WomenSource and Pregnancy Helpline.”

“But the problem of branding remained,” he added. “We needed a name study.”

Over the next two years, TLC worked with Dan Zimmerman, a marketing consultant, and gathered input and counsel from other affiliates.

“A master’s level marketing class at the University of St. Thomas provided valuable data,” Cossairt explained. “Dan conducted two focus groups and also developed a survey that went to mostly young single women.”

More than 700 surveys were completed. The result? A new name: “TLC Options for Women” and the tagline: Pregnancy Resource Centers.