The North Jefferson Women’s Center has changed the way it educates new mothers.

The center has converted its conference room into the “Sugar Shoppe,” a place where mothers and mothers-to-be can purchase items for their children using “mommy money,” credits earned by doing things like keeping appointments at the center, watching instructional DVDs, participating in Bible lessons and completing parenting worksheets. Mothers earn a dollar for most tasks, and most items don’t cost much more than that.

“We’ve always done pregnancy tests and given out things like diapers, but it could be a little awkward because mothers had to come in and ask for things, and we had to make them watch a video,” said Women’s Center director Nancy Shaffer. “Now they can really feel like they are taking responsibility for their baby.”

Shaffer and other women’s center staff members based the store off of similar programs at other organizations, which Shaffer described as “earn while you learn.”

The center said another advantage of the program is that it’s given the staff a way to organize their large collection of donated items.

“A lot of these things were packed away, and nobody was able to take them home,” said Ginger Reeves, a staff member at the center. “Now people can see them, and they’re moving a lot better.”

Shaffer said the center’s store of donated items was abundant, but that the economy can cause donations to become sparse. She is hoping people who benefit from the program will bring some of the items back so they can be used by other parents.

Shaffer said the program has been successful so far.

“They love the videos. They say they learn things here that they don’t get told anywhere else,” said Shaffer. “I love it when people see something they want for their baby and get excited.” She said parents sometimes earn five or six dollars on the spot just because they saw something they wanted for their child.

The center is also having a fundraiser banquet on Sept. 30 at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.