Love in Every Step: Ashland’s Walk for Life Celebrates Faith, Family and 45 Years of Care
ASHLAND — Beneath a sunny autumn sky, nearly 200 people gathered in downtown Ashland for a Saturday morning filled with prayer, encouragement and a shared commitment to helping families.
The Ashland Pregnancy Care Center’s annual Walk for Life and 5K Fun Run celebrated the ministry’s 45th anniversary. But among the runners, walkers, volunteers and church teams, one mother’s testimony brought the purpose of the gathering into focus.
“I didn’t walk into the Ashland Pregnancy Care Center looking for God,” Tia told the crowd. “I walked in because I needed help.”
With her young son, Kaden, nearby, Tia described how a simple call about parenting classes became the beginning of a journey toward healing, renewed faith and a deeper sense of purpose.
When she learned she was pregnant, she felt overwhelmed and unprepared. She wanted to be a good mother but did not know where to begin.
Inside the center, she said, she found people who cared without judging or pressuring her. They offered practical help, encouragement and prayer for her, her son and their future.
“They simply loved me where I was,” she said.
That support became especially meaningful when her family circumstances changed suddenly, leaving her and her son as a family of two. Tia did not describe the circumstances of that change, but called it one of the hardest seasons of her life.
The center’s staff and volunteers continued to stand beside her.
“They surrounded me with love, with support, with prayer,” she said.
Tia credited that steady care with helping her rediscover her faith. Motherhood, she explained, gave her purpose and pushed her to grow, heal and keep moving forward. Her experiences also inspired her to write a book about the hardships she faced and the work she believes God has done through them.
Her message to supporters was personal: their generosity creates a place where someone who feels uncertain or overwhelmed can find love and help.
Executive Director Melanie Miller said it was Tia’s first time publicly sharing her testimony. Afterward, Pastor John joined Tia and Kaden for prayer, asking for protection, provision and continued growth in their lives.
Kaden, who will turn 3 in November, brought his own joy to the morning with his love of bubbles, balloons and a little peekaboo beneath the tent.
Miller said approximately 20 runners participated in the 8 a.m. 5K, with about 175 walkers taking part in the event. She thanked participants for helping the center continue providing free, confidential services and compassionate support to women and men facing pregnancy decisions.
The anniversary also comes at the beginning of a new chapter for the ministry. Miller said the center celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated, 12,800-square-foot facility on Claremont Avenue less than a month earlier.
Board Secretary Lauren Weaver, who offered a prayer before the walk, said supporters had prayed for a larger facility for more than a decade.
Throughout the morning, speakers returned to the importance of putting faith into action.
Ashland County Commissioner Jim Justice spoke about sharing compassion with people who need it most. Mayor Matt Miller encouraged participants to let love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness shine through their actions.
“If your heart’s beating, you’ve still got work to do,” the mayor said.
That spirit of service was visible throughout the gathering. Church teams joined the walk, volunteers helped with registration and street crossings, and local businesses contributed refreshments and other support. American Heritage Girls provided children’s activities and planned a cheerful welcome for returning walkers.
Miller also recognized the approximately 60 to 70 volunteers who regularly serve the center.
Before participants headed along Claremont Avenue, they gathered for prayer and a group photograph commemorating 45 years of ministry.
For Tia, those years of service had become something deeply personal: a place of consistency when life felt uncertain, and people willing to walk beside her before she had everything figured out.
As the community prepared to take its next steps together, her testimony offered a picture of what love and faith can look like in everyday life, a listening ear, practical help, a prayer and the assurance that a mother and her child do not have to face the future alone.
