Upcoming Events
Believing is Seeing
July 20, 2010
Power of the Purse Luncheon
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Greetings, High Country Women!
June has been a very busy month for HCWF. Our Power of the Purse Luncheon invitations have been sent out and RSVP's are being sent in at a record pace! If you have not received an invitation yet, please email HCWF and we will be happy to send you one.
This year we are celebrating four years of changing lives! Come connect with other caring women in our community at the Power of the Purse Luncheon and learn how together we can continue to make a positive difference.
HCWF is very excited to welcome our new Director's Circle members. Also, Believing is Seeing is coming up Thursday evenings in July. We always need help so please read on below to learn how you can help.
Sincerely,
High Country Women's Fund
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Power of the Purse Luncheon
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Invites are out! Save the date: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The work of the High Country
Women's Fund is supported by donations and fundraising events. The major event,
the Power of the Purse Luncheon, is scheduled for July 20, 2010 at the Blowing Rock
Country Club from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The proceeds from the event will be allocated to local area
agencies through grants.
Look for more details on the luncheon in our Power of the Purse newsletter that will be coming out very soon. Please email us at info@highcountrywomensfund.org or call 828.264.4007 if you have questions or would like to sign up for a "POP" Committee.
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Believing is Seeing
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Power of the Purse (POP) is proud to help support the Believing is
Seeing program for the third consecutive summer. It is an empowerment program
that focuses on development of an appreciation of self, reduction of stress
through relaxation exercises, positive coping mechanisms, effective
communication and creation and manifestation of dreams.
The participants are women who are referred through POP and
United Way supported agencies. The women are asked to complete an application
form sharing their hopes and dreams and why they believe it is important to
participate in this program. Women who have attended the program in the past
have faced challenges of being a
single mom, an abused spouse or partner, had drug dependencies, experienced homelessness and
feelings of dispair.
At the end of the four weeks, the women have formed a bond
with the other participants, realized that there are others in similar
situations and know because of the skills they have learned and practiced that
they can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of their children.
Some have returned to contribute back to the community through volunteering
once they are on their feet.
We are blessed to have the support of the Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship for our gathering. Children of the participants are welcome to come. We
all eat a meal together prepared by POP volunteers. Volunteers also stay during
the program and tend to the children while their mothers are in their group.
This year we have an added advantage of being in The Children's Playhouse
behind the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Those who have volunteered have had the joy of preparing
delicious food, interacting with the women and children and witnessing lovely
transformations. A big thank you to Cheap Therapy who has generously provided hand crafted journals for the participants of Believing is Seeing.
We invite you to join us if you feel led to volunteer in any
capacity. Please contact Mary Jo Grubbs, Community Outreach Chair at mar0817@aol.com.
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New Director's Circle Members
| | High Country Women's Fund would like to take this time to welcome two new Director's Circle groups. Each of the women involved in these groups has been involved with HCWF in important ways and has taken their commitment one step further by organizing their group membership.
A big welcome to The Sisterhood of the Temple as well as Mary Hutchens' Group; members are Patti Curtis, Wendy Burgette, Melissa White, Mary Hutchens, Linda Liddle, Debbie Clay, Shipley Jenkins, Marianne Hall, Linda Steen, Babette McAuliffe, Leeann Berry
and Bobbi Taylor.
Thank you for choosing HCWF as your vehicle for making a difference in our community!
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Radiating Generosity - Another story of success
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Sharon Malone is an extraordinary woman. She comes from
Delaware originally and replanted herself in our mountains some four years ago. Shortly after her move, both of her parents passed away. She was having
emotional stress coping with those losses, which in turn created stress in her
marriage. She decided to bring her three children to the High Country believing
she had a place to rent from a dear friend. It turned out it had already been
rented. She found support from OASIS and stayed in the shelter for about six weeks
until an apartment opened up in March of 2007.
In July 2007, Sharon was accepted into the Lees-McRae New
Opportunity School for Women, a three-week program supporting women in developing
empowerment skills and researching possible careers. When they asked her what
she wanted to do with her life, she stated she desired to work outdoors. The
program brought in a representative from Caldwell Community College who shared
information on the Associate of Applied Science Degree where she could choose
to major in Landscaping Gardening. She applied, and was accepted.
Jane Lentz, the financial counselor for Caldwell Community
College at that time, recognized that Sharon would benefit from financial
support. She discerned that funding from the
High Country Women's Fund would provide the opportunity to
contribute to her summer classes for two semesters so that she could
complete her degree in two years. She was on a roll and felt stimulated to move
forward. Sharon completed her degree in December 2009 and is in deep gratitude
to the High Country Women's Fund for supporting her in reaching her educational
goals.
Since completing her Associate's Degree, Sharon has chosen
to continue her education. She is working towards her Environmental Educator
Certificate. One of the requirements was to plan and implement a community
project educating others as part of the implementation. She serendipitously met
the director of the Kwanza Family Inn, a shelter in Lenoir for homeless women
and children.
The director invited Sharon to plan and implement her garden
at the Kwanza Family Inn, teaching both the women and children staying there
how to garden. They started by collecting soil samples to evaluate the nutritional
status, built eight raised beds, ten feet by four feet in three days and then
planted tomatoes, squash, potatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, corn and green
peppers. Those living at the Inn will continue to maintain the garden and reap
the harvest. If families residing at the Inn find a home, they are welcome to
return and gather the produce as well.
During the six-week period Sharon worked, she often times
brought her three children, ages 17, 15 and 13 to help with the project. They
also wanted to give back to the community since they had been supported by OASIS
during their six-week period of homelessness. They helped the children paint
rocks and seashells to add to the garden décor.
Three years ago Sharon was emotionally and financially
stressed, had low energy and was working in dead end jobs. Today, she is
reunited with her husband and supporting him in obtaining his GED. Her son,
fifteen at the time, became inspired by his mother when she made the choice to
get an AA Degree; he entered the auto technical program and is currently
attending Caldwell Community College through the Watauga High School Program.
Sharon is a member of the National Honor Society. In her
last semester she made straight A's. She shared, "I'm not so stupid after all."
Sharon has not only learned from her academic classes, she has also learned
from her experiences. During an internship, she was told that she is able to see what is needed ahead of time and
to simply do what is necessary to
get the job done. She has learned that it is okay to ask for support and also how to receive it
graciously. She also knows the value of education and is passing that on to the
rest of her family.
One of the most important lessons that Sharon recognizes is
the value of giving. As she says, "I love to give." She has donated items to
the Sexual Abuse Shelter in Lenoir and taken part in a community educational
program about sexual abuse. She just returned from Honduras where she
volunteered with other Trio Program members, a support program for first generation
students that helps build houses by placing mortar on handmade bricks.
Sharon Malone is high energy, is very enthusiastic about
her future and in gratitude for all the support she has received along the way.
May we all be inspired by her radiating generosity.
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