Grace under Pressure

 In General

This is what Grace Under Pressure Looks Like: This picture was taken right after I had to tell three of my amazing widow empowerment ministry team members that due to our budget, this week will be their last with us. These Millennials are hard working, hope-giving, creative talents marked by excellence! If you have a job opening for an excellent video editor/shooter, graphic artist(s) and an executive or personal assistant, please PM me. These pics show how much they were willing to roll up their sleeves and work to help create our 180 Your Grief Widows Empowerment Center, not just using their talents, but their hands in the heat of the summer.

Travis Cooper has been our managing editor. He is responsible for coordinating the creation of 600 minutes of broadcast-quality grief empowerment videos. He’s a graduate of WGU Film School and has been trained by NBC award winning editor John Hyjek and myself, an Emmy award winning documentarian. Travis can shoot, edit, project manage, as well as create our live podcasting studio. We expect nothing less than broadcast quality excellence and Travis has delivered time and again.

Sara A. Myles is an incredible graphic artist, social media expert, and project coordinator. She has created excellent graphics for our website, videos, expo branding, print, banners, and online presence. I am always stunned by her work.

LaTonya Lark is our unflappable executive assistant. She is a very accomplished artist and graphic artist in her own right and works seamlessly with Sara. LaTonya organizes our projects and programs and executes with humor, grace, and patience. She is a constant encouragement to our team and always seeks the positive perspective.

Ron and I are full time volunteers, so we don’t factor into the budget. Joey is staying on with us, trained in our production process by Travis.

I hardly slept for the last few nights, wondering how this transition would go. I was in awe today as Ron and I shared with each person from our hearts how much we appreciate them, their excellence in service, how we would keep them on if we had the budget, and that our desire is to connect them with their next job opportunity. If you have a job opportunity for them, please contact me.

The responses of Travis, Sara, and LaTonya were so full of love, hope, and understanding. Each person responded with faith and not fear. They are even staying to the end of this week to make sure all our files are in order before they go. And while they are working, I have been contacting friends in my industry on their behalf.

We have accomplished much together. We finished our 180 Your Life for Women Grief Empowerment Video Series, created the 180U growing library of grief empowerment videos for only $8 per month (so it’s affordable for everyone going through loss). We rehabbed a dilapidated building together in the heat of the summer. We’ve taken that old building and together made it a space of innovative hope and healing. We created a live production studio to interview inspirational and educational stories of health, hope, and healing for those going through loss. And we had a one amazing Grand Opening to celebrate…a Grand Opening that was a fundraiser but was severely overshadowed by a tropical storm and 40 mph wind gusts. It became a financial loss.

Still We Stand. As far as I know, we are the only full-time, dedicated building to widow empowerment, for widows, run by widows in Atlanta.

We are not leaving. We will still offer a monthly widow get-togethers, and bi-monthly walk & talk mentoring sessions with a licensed clinician, Pastor Ron Wean, and myself as a widow mentor. We will still offer workshops and podcasts. We can’t do it alone. If you believe in what we do, we would appreciate your tax-deductible donation. We are raising $20,000 to keep our programs running. Would you consider donating $80 to sponsor a widow in our programs for a year? We need 250 sponsors to meet our end-of-the year goal. We really appreciate your support. To make a tax-deductible donation, please click here. https://180yourgrief.networkforgood.com

We exist to create grief empowerment for widows and their families. Our desire is to make access to our widow empowerment programs for free or nearly-free. When you empower a widow, you empower her children, and that’s healing for generations to come.

The work of Travis, Sara, and LaTonya have significantly moved our dreams into reality and I cannot thank them enough.

If you have a job opportunity for a video editor, graphic artist, or executive assistant, please contact me. Their last day with us is this Friday.

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