Stories & Updates from the 180 Widows’ Empowerment Center!

Recently, Carrie reached out to me on Facebook asking if there was a 180 Widows’ group in Texas. She has been WIDOWED TWICE by age thirty-two and now has a four year old daughter and a stepdaughter.

“Churches keep putting me in divorce care. I’m NOT divorced. I need a support group of widows who are close to my age and understand losing a husband,” Carrie shared.

I remember losing my husband while having a toddler, with one on the way. It was a lifeline for me to connect with other widows my age who also had children. After losing a spouse, it’s vital for the surviving parent and child to connect with other younger widows who share practical hope on a consistent basis.

I replied, “Carrie, you came to the right place!”

180 LIFELINE: We don’t have a widows group in Texes, YET. But we CAN help Carrie! Through the online Zoom meetings platform, Carrie now joins our group in Atlanta twice a month using her smartphone or laptop and participates LIVE, in real-time, with widows on our team in GA. We also have other widows who have joined us from Florida, Tennessee, and now a request from Colorado! Carrie also joined our private FB group and phone-text stream where widows can connect with fellow widowed team-members any time!

Carrie called me recently, crying happy-tears, saying, “Thank you for your group! I feel hopeful again and I’m getting my engery back so I can be a happy mom!”

• SUCCESS! $25,000 GRANT RECEIVED! The private foundation grant we applied for has been secured and started on Sept 14th and lasts for 10 months! This grant provides $2,500 per month of the needed $2,850 per month to cover our building rent, utilities, licenses, insurance, & technical production costs! We are so very thankful!!

• Taking Time to Listen: We currently serve 20 widowed families in Atlanta and reach out to approximately 70 widowed families online. We kept our numbers low in 2018 as we established our new 180 Widows Center, asked our focus-group of widows what programs worked best, and had a small, full-time volunteer team of 2 people consisting of Mishael Porembski and Pastor Ron Wean. 

• Speaking: Pastor Ron Wean, LPC and Mishael Porembski are speaking at the GA Christian Counselors gathering and sharing the grief empowerment steps of the 180 Your Life curriculum this November 12th. Would you like Mishael and/or Pastor Ron to speak on grief empowerment topics with your group? Please let us know by emailing us at hello@180yourgrief.org!

• Ministry Venture Certified! Pastor Ron and Mishael Porembski have successfully completed the year-long Ministry Venture program which applies best sustainability practices to nonprofit ministries.

• Settled in! Have you seen our 180 Widows’ Empowerment Center lately? We rehabilitated an nearly-100 year old historical building in East Cobb Marietta over the last 14 months. This building was almost condemned, but our community saved it! Here’s a few pictures! We have group and private counseling spaces in the front half of our building, family gathering & garden space outside, and a live-podcasting / post-production facility in the back of our building so that we can share our grief empowerment programs with widows across the country! 

• Counseling: Pastor Ron Wean is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia and Ohio specializing in grief, trauma, and substance abuse. He is available every week from Tuesday through Thursday at the 180 Widows’ Empowerment Center. He has over 30 years of experience and is available for private fee-based counseling sessions for men, women, and families. Contact him for an appointment at rwean@sbcglobal.net or call him at 937-361-2073.

• 2019 Widows’ Team: Our 2019 Widows’ Team starts it’s new course this January 10, 2019! We will train together in Body, Mind, & Spirit for 12 months using our 180 Your Life from Tragedy to Triumph Grief Empowerment Program.

• 2019 Widows’ Team Growth: We will be advertising for new members between October and December of 2018. Because of increased demand, we anticipate serving to at least 100 widowed families in Atlanta alone, and over 300 widowed families online in 2019! To accomplish this mission, we need your support!

• Please take a few moments to watch our 3-minute 180 Widow Empowerment Center mission video.

• Our Widows’ Grief Empowerment Program is Completely Donor-Supported. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to support our upcoming 2019 Widows’ Team so that we may have the resources and staff we need to serve our widowed families. If you are interested in becoming a 2019 180 Widow Team sponsor, please contact Mishael Porembski at 404-731-0830 and/or make your tax deductible donation using this secure link:
• https://pushpay.com/g/180yourgrief?src=hpp

• New Beginnings: Our NEW 8-WEEK DVD and print-based grief empowerment program, 180 New Beginnings, for churches and faith environments will be launched this November on our website! Let us know if your church or group is interested!

• 180 Boxed Set: 180 Your Life 12-Month print and DVD-based grief empowerment program for churches is now in a boxed set and launching this November on our website! Let us know if your church or group is interested! 

• Are you or a friend interested in empowering widows and their families this year by volunteering your time, talent, or participating on our nonprofit board? Please respond to this email or call Mishael Porembski at 404-731-0830. We would be glad to continue this conversation!
  

• Thank You again for your support to empower widows and their fatherless children to get #StrongerTogether!