Woodbury Options for Women Joins New Life Family Services
A New Chapter of Life-Affirming Impact
We’re excited to announce that Woodbury Options for Women will officially become part of New Life Family Services beginning January 1, 2026.
This strategic partnership is a joining of strengths — built on a shared mission to empower women, strengthen families, and uphold the value of every life.
Why This Partnership?
What Will Change for Clients?
Clients will continue receiving the same compassionate, confidential care they’ve come to trust at Woodbury Options.
In addition, through New Life, clients will gain access to:
- Licensed Adoption Services
- Expanded Parenting Education & Mentoring (Every Family)
- Abortion Recovery Support (Conquerors)
- The Good Father Program
- Abortion Pill Reversal
- Future expansion of hours
All services remain free of charge and rooted in Christ-centered care.
What Does This Mean for New Life?
This partnership allows New Life to:
- Expand our geographic reach without starting from scratch, with sixth First Care location
- Build on an existing, thriving ministry
- Increase efficiency and long-term sustainability
- Deepen our community impact by extending into the east metro suburbs
- Strengthen our organizational structure by adding VP of Operations
A Message from Our Leaders
“This is a joining of strengths, not a rescue mission. Woodbury Options has been thriving, and this partnership allows us to build on that strong foundation while expanding the care and services available to the community.”
“We believe we can accomplish more together than we ever could apart. We’re so grateful for the support that makes growth like this possible.”
About Almeda Smith
Almeda Smith, Executive Director of Woodbury Options for Women
Almeda Smith currently serves as Executive Director of Woodbury Options for Women and will transition into the role of Vice President of Operations at New Life Family Services in 2026. During her four-year tenure in Woodbury, Almeda led the center through a season of remarkable growth, doubling medical service hours, significantly increasing fundraising, and enhancing the organization’s overall reach.
Her career began in Washington, D.C., where she held leadership roles in government and military technology firms. After a life-changing mission trip to Haiti, Almeda shifted her focus to nonprofit service, becoming a passionate advocate for families through foster care, adoption, and vocational ministry. With a degree in Psychology and graduate business training in entrepreneurship, Almeda brings a rare blend of operational excellence, strategic insight, and Gospel-centered leadership. Her deep commitment to life-affirming ministry and organizational health makes her a vital addition to New Life’s executive team.
Frequently Asked Questions
New Life Family Services is acquiring Woodbury Options for Women. While legally this is a “Transfer of Assets,” functionally it means that Woodbury will become a New Life/First Care location starting January 1, 2026. The Woodbury organization will dissolve, and its assets, staff, and services will transition under the New Life umbrella.
This opportunity aligns directly with New Life’s mission to serve abortion-minded clients and extend our reach. Over 60% of Woodbury’s clients are abortion-minded, and the location attracts clients from both the Woodbury area and nearby Wisconsin. The center is financially stable, well-staffed, and shares a similar model to our First Care clinics—making this a strategic, mission-driven partnership.
The Woodbury Options board had been thoughtfully exploring how to reach more clients, deepen their impact, and expand the hours and services offered. At the same time, they were looking for ways to more strategically leverage financial resources in the Twin Cities. These goals led them to begin exploring partnership opportunities that could accelerate growth and extend their mission. Initial conversations with New Life began about a year ago.
Woodbury is a strategic location — not only for reaching women in the East Metro, but also those traveling from nearby states like Wisconsin where abortion laws are more restrictive. This expansion will help us serve even more women who are actively considering abortion and searching for answers.
Almeda brings a unique skillset and significant operational experience that fills some gaps in our team. Her new title will be VP of Operations and will include:
- Facilities management across all locations
- Oversight of the budgeting process, including ongoing monitoring
- Contract management
- Other core operational responsibilities including IT, forecasting, and system efficiency, etc.
This shift will free up some of our current staff members to focus more on program management, oversight, and efficiency, especially as our services continue to expand.
With the assistance of our attorneys, we went through an extensive due diligence process, signing an NDA, sharing critical information with each other, and the formation of board committees to determine if this was the right direction for both New Life and Woodbury Options. We paused the process for about six months while we were finishing the St Paul building. We picked it back up in January, and both boards voted to move forward with the acquisition in March of this year. Additional due diligence was carried out with our attorney, and our attorney officially recommended that the acquisition move forward. This is a required step as it needs to be approved by the MN attorney general.
Their team includes an administrative assistant, a part-time nurse manager, a one-day-a-week nurse, a client advocate, and Executive Director, Almeda. The plan is that they will all be integrated into the New Life/First Care team, and we anticipate minimal disruption to their day-to-day roles. In order to be hired by New Life, their staff will be required to sign our statement of faith, core values and code of Christian conduct. We do not anticipate this will be an issue for anyone.
As part of the legal transition, Woodbury’s board will dissolve. However, we hope to invite one of their current board members to join New Life’s Board of Directors.
Woodbury Options was started in 2009 by a group of individuals from Saint Ambrose Catholic Church. Over time, their staff, board, donors and supporting churches have shifted to a truly ecumenical base. For example, they receive significant support from both Saint Ambrose as well as River Valley and other protestant churches. They are passionate about serving the Woodbury and surrounding communities with the love of Christ.