Susan Duffy leads the nonprofit Pearson Foundation of Hawaii and its Pearson Place center
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
In fall 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pearson Place unveiled its new location upstairs from Pauline Books and Media Center at 1145 Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu.
The pregnancy resource center, which is run by the Pearson Foundation of Hawaii, used to have multiple locations and go by the name “Pregnancy Problem Resource Center.” It’s now consolidated to the one downtown location across the street from the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. It has several office spaces, a casually furnished waiting area, a larger common room where the center’s opening reception was held, a kitchen and bathrooms.
Pearson’s mission is to support women facing unexpected pregnancies, starting with free pregnancy tests and continuing through donations of diapers, baby clothes and other supplies after babies are born.
On a recent Monday, Pearson foundation board president Susan Duffy showed this reporter a Pearson newsletter with photos of two babies born in early 2021. Their moms had received help through Pearson, and Duffy was proud of how the center had helped them choose life.
She sat at her desk in the quiet Pearson Place offices, empty except for her and her adult daughter, Makena. The center is closed Sundays and Mondays. The pandemic has made it harder for both volunteers and potential clients to get to the center in person. But Pearson Place is open for a few hours a day, five days a week. Potential clients can make appointments ahead of time by phone or online and reach the organization by email.
Like daughter like mother
It was Duffy’s daughter, Makena, who first got her mom involved in the center. Then teenage-Makena followed pro-life social media accounts and was inspired to do more in the pro-life arena. She asked her mom if she could volunteer somewhere. Because she was under 18, Susan needed to accompany Makena when she helped at Pearson.
Duffy and her daughter Makena. Makena’s volunteering with Pearson is how her mother first got involved. (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
Before that, Duffy, a career Army officer who retired after 20 years of service, had been a practicing Catholic but not particularly involved in pro-life volunteer work.
“I was just like a lot of people,” she said, not knowing much about Planned Parenthood, about abortion clinics, about ways to help pregnant women, or how abortion can have a multigenerational impact.
Once she and her husband and two daughters decided to stay in Hawaii after military retirement, their home parish became Immaculate Conception in Ewa Beach.
And Duffy got deeper into the cause through volunteering alongside her high schooler. She also attended a Rachel’s Vineyard training to learn how to offer post-abortion support and healing in a Catholic setting.
“I just started to get more involved as I learned more about it,” said Duffy, who was also encouraged by Capuchin Franciscan Father Michel Dalton, then-pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Ewa Beach to serve in the parish’s Respect Life ministry.
“We were talking about the things that are wrong in the culture,” Duffy recalled. “He said, ‘Well, to overcome evil, you have to do good, right?’”
Bishop Silva blessing the new Pearson Pregnancy Center (HCH File Photo)
After several years of volunteering with the Pearson Foundation, she was asked to be on its board. In 2019, she took over the role of director and president from Ruth Prinzivalli, a long-time Pearson Foundation board member who moved back to the mainland to retire.
When she first started to volunteer, Duffy was often surprised at how young the girls were that would come into the center seeking help. She says she often gets the sense that the women don’t want to have an abortion, they just don’t know what to do.
Through her Pearson involvement, Duffy has learned how much of an impact abortion has.
“The biggest issue is just how harmful abortion is to women,” she said “Just the trauma, the effects that it has, the far-reaching ripple effects across society. It’s just a real eye-opener.
Busy non-profit
Much of Duffy’s work with Pearson has to do with the nitty-gritty of keeping a non-profit going.
Pearson Foundation vice president and Pearson Place office manager Mary Smart, who also used to be the foundation’s president, knows that the role is a busy one.
Duffy makes sure the board meetings and elections run smoothly, oversees the finances and insurance of the foundation and center, manages the lease, maintains bylaws, collects donations and corresponds with donors, and helps design brochures, ads and other media.
She coordinates with other nonprofits like United Way and Harvest Family Life Ministries and Catholic groups including the diocese’s Respect Life office, Knights of Columbus and Mary Jane Center for pregnant women, the latter of which was founded by the Pearson Foundation’s originator, Robert Pearson.
“Pearson Place would not have been possible without her efforts,” Smart said. “There is a lot of steps that are required to move into new office spaces as we did a couple of years ago.”
Duffy arranged for furnishing the space and moving from other office space, got signage and permits taken care of, and handles tax exemptions and other government-related tasks.
Smart says she and Duffy are both former military officers and are a lot alike in wanting to “set goals and achieve them.”
Susan Duffy stands next to a stack of bins containing donated baby items that can be given out to expectant mothers who come to Pearson Place for support. (HCH photo | Anna Weaver)
Right for the job
Those that work with Duffy think she is well fit for her position leading the pro-life nonprofit.
A daily coffee group made up of parishioners from St. Anthony, Kailua, that meets at Lou Carnazzo’s house has a “bucket for babies” where they collect money for Pearson.
Carnazzo said in an email that the group has observed that “Susan Duffy possesses extraordinary organizational abilities, she is intelligent, focused, well-spoken and has great vision and dedication. She sees the need to have a link of educating our young people in pro-life with the mission of Pearson Place, which has been one of our concerns.”
Hawaii Catholic Conference director Eva Andrade says that while she as a public policy expert brings “a voice for life to the State Capitol, the pregnancy resource centers are out on the front line providing a very necessary ministry to the community. That helps ensure that we aren’t just at the state capitol saying no to something.”
Andrade has worked with Duffy for many years on family issues and says she appreciates Duffy’s tenacity and determination. Andrade gave the example of the state’s starting its “Pono Choices” school curriculum on sex education.
“She made sure that the community had every opportunity to understand why the curriculum was problematic and why they needed to raise their voices,” Andrade said. “She carries that passion into her work to save babies. She rolls up her sleeve and gets to work — regardless of the challenge in front of her. And that makes a difference to every baby she helps save.”
Duffy’s daughter, Makena, who got her involved with the Pearson Foundation in the first place, said that her mom is not only a great leader and a very organized person but she also has “a great understanding of people.”
“And I think that’s really good in work like this where you have to deal with a lot of different people,” Makena added. “It takes a lot to keep the center running and to keep a nonprofit running.”
50 year-history
Pearson Place and its predecessor locations have been in Hawaii for more than 50 years.
The organization started with Robert Pearson, a pro-life advocate and Catholic convert who began the Pearson Foundation in 1970 with his wife in their Maui home. Pearson eventually relocated to Oahu.
While there used to be several “problem pregnancy resource centers” on Oahu as well as one on the Big Island and Maui, the work continues in the consolidated space on Oahu. Pearson is also a part of International Life Services and Heartbeat International.
Pearson Place needs more volunteers and provides all the training required to co-counsel clients who come into the center. If you’re interested in volunteering call 808-942-0328. Visit pearsonplace.org for more information.
