Kelly Ross’s mother had a decision to make when she found herself a pregnant teenager in the 1980s. She ended up choosing life for her unborn son and gave him up for adoption.
Little did she know how that decision would influence her daughter to take a stand for the unborn four decades later and become CEO of the Piedmont Women’s Center in Greenville.
Ross began her professional career in the U.S. military, and it was there that she came to know Jesus as her personal Savior. From 2003-05, Ross volunteered at her local church, where she was eventually brought on staff for eight years.
Ross then began serving on the board of directors for the Foothills Care Center in Seneca, South Carolina, a pregnancy care center like the Piedmont Women’s Center. In March 2018, the previous CEO of the PWC announced she was retiring from her position and the center began looking for a replacement. Ross felt God calling her to apply. There were many other applicants whom Ross believed were more qualified, but God kept the job for her.
“Being at Piedmont Women’s Center and following God into ministry as a vocation is the biggest adventure of my life,” Ross said.
Ross inherited a strong staff and God has given her the ability to lead them to the next step in ending abortion and sharing the Gospel in the Upstate. Because the center cares for about 2,500 clients each year and only has 14 full- and part-time staff members, it depends on a network of about 150 regular volunteers. Ross said it would be impossible for PWC to do what it accomplishes without these volunteers.
PWC has hosted its Night for Life at the Greenville Convention Center for many years but has had to turn away attendees in recent years because seats were filled. Ross views this as a good problem but still needed a solution. She asked Bob Jones University to host the event because of its stand for life and the large seating capacity in Founder’s Memorial Amphitorium.
Ross hopes the event will show the Greenville community what PWC does and motivate attendees to donate time and money to the center’s mission. Above all, Ross hopes the event will motivate people to pray for God to do a work in many hearts.
“I believe that we will see an end to abortion as we know it in the Upstate,” Ross said. “And I think that prayer is going to play a huge role in that.”
The Night for Life will be held at 7 p.m. March 5 in the Founder’s Memorial Amphitorium. Abby Johnson, a former employee of Planned Parenthood who now advocates for the unborn, will be the principal speaker. Her story is told in the movie Unplanned. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Free tickets and information are available online.
