01/17/2023
In July of 2020, I woke all consumed with thoughts of a space I had looked at the day before. A friend was thinking of taking a 4000 square foot space on 28th Street and splitting it into smaller spaces for rent. I had walked through the day before and didn't give much thought to it really but that next morning, the Lord downloaded a vision of what the space was supposed to be that was so vivid and so true that I knew without a doubt it would come true.
"There are for all of us defining moments that radically alter the course and content of our lives." - Ralph McManus
I spent the next few weeks meeting everyone I could think of to see the space and cast vision for what it could be. We started with a board of four women who had a heart for seeing women loved and healed and we filed paperwork for our non-profit. Three beautiful souls (Vicki, Summer, and Gabrielle) said yes to bringing their passion and talent to the table as staff (unpaid for a year), and then we all went to work with the community demolishing what was there to make space for something new. In 11 months, we completed renovation and opened and we have been in operation now for 17 months!
People ask me everyday, "how do you make it work?" and "What sustains you?" I feel a huge responsibility as the Executive Director to have the best possible answer I can for that question, but the truth is most days, I really don't know. I know we show up, we love people well, and we do our very best to learn more and more about how to do our jobs and serve the women in our community better every day and with every lived experience. I know we have a community that has stood in the gap for us time and time again as we have inched along, and I know we have a God that longs to see us love his people well.
And we believe to our very core that every woman who is hurting has the capacity to heal, to grow, and to build an amazing and beautiful life out of ashes. We are building something new in our community - a model of care that looks very different than anything we can find. Our story is new, it's unpredictable, and it's not a safe bet. But it's our story. And we choose adventure. 🦋🦋🦋
Much Love,
Nicole
