The W Connection

February 2011

The W Connection Newsletter

Widows Staying Connected

In This Issue
The Widow's Survival Kit
The W Connection Outreach Program
The Reading Corner
Volunteers Needed
Quick Links

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Greetings!

Welcome to the first edition of The W Connection's newsletter "Widows Staying Connected."

Being a widow is incredibly hard and the goal of The W Connection is to make it a bit easier by being the one stop resource center for widows. The challenges we face are many and cover a broad range. After all, we are living a life that was built for two- yet now we are living it alone.

The W Connection is all about helping widows get connected..to each other, to information to training and to local resources. As all of us who have been widowed know, the real challenge comes in rebuilding our lives - something that often takes years.

And finally, The W Connection is founded on the belief that widows can best help other widows through sharing knowledge and experiences. Therefore, we will be featuring many articles written by widows. In addition, we will also will be featuring experts who have an understanding of the many issues we as widows face.

Our goal is to be relevant and timely and to add value to your lives.

We would love to hear your comments and ideas so please contact either one of us.

Until the next time,


Ellen Kamp                                     Dawn Nargi

President and Co-Founder                Vice President and Co-Founder
The W Connection                           The W Connection

ellen@wconnection.org                     dawn@wconnection.org

 

The Widow's Survival Kit
Developed by Widows for Widows

 

A widow is faced with many challenges after losing he husband- emotional, financial and legal to name a few. Just surviving seems to become the new end game. The Widow's Survival Kit has been developed to help widows gain the information they need to meet these new day to day challenges. It is made up of srticles, reading lists, tip sheets and worksheets developed by widows and others who have expertise in issues facing widows. It's purpose is to make this very diffiuclt time a bit easier. Click here to see its current contents The Widow's Survival Kit 

More material will be added as we develop it. Watch here for announcements!

W Connection Chapter News

 
The first chapter of The W Connection was launched in New York City in November 2010 and we have gotten off to a great start. Lots of lively discussions about issues that are important to us  as widows. Last month 's meeting ws devoted to discussing some of the key challneges we faced after becoming widowed and the strategies we used to overcome these challenges. We exchanged alot of good information covering a broad range of topics - legal, financial, childcare,and home maintenance to name a few. We are compiling all of our thoughts and experiences into an article "Challenges and Coping Stratgies: For Widows by Widows". We will let you know when it is completed and available. In the meantime, if you would like to contribute some of your own experiences we would love to include them. Please send them to www.info@wconnection.org

 

Our NYC Chapter meets monthly every second Monday of the month from 6:30pm-8:00pm. If you would like to join us
please contact us for the location 516 359-6341 or ellen@wconnection.org 

 

The W Connection's First Contact  Program

Whether a widows contacts The W Connection by email, through our website or by phone we want it to be a warm and personal experience. It is the purpose of The W Connection's First Contact program and its Outreach Coordinators to assure that every widow has this experience.

Outreach Coordinators will contact each widow with the goal of accomplishing three things:
  • to learn more about her and her loss
  • to tell her about The W Connection's Programs and Services
  • to discuss what would be most helpful to the widow at this time
Currently we are finalizing the training program for Outreach Coordinators so that we beginning training our volunteers. This program will be launched in the Spring 0f 2011.




 

The Reading Corner: Featured Book

 

The Survivors Assistance Handbook by Mark Colgan, CFP 

Mark Colgan is a professional Certified Financial Planner who is the CEO and Founder of Plan Your Legacy and the President of Colgan Capital. He is also a widower. In 2001 his wife of 7 years died suddenly at the age of 28. Inspired by the challenges he faced, he wrote this book. Mark's goal in writing this book "is to help you navigate the financial and paperwork challenges during one of life's most difficult time." Some topics he covers include: Immediate Concerns:The Hours and Days Following Death, Collecting Survivor Benefits, Getting Organized and Sorting Through Paperwork and many more. An incredibly comprehensive and practical guide.   

 

Interested in buying the book? 


Volunteers Needed

The W Connection is a volunteer organization. We are very fortunate to have lots of great people supporting us and working diligently on our programs and services. However, there are times when we will need some extra help and we will use this newsletter to let everyone know. It is our hope that someone reading about our need will step up to volunteer or will know someone who is willing to. Our feeling is "it can't hurt to ask"

HELP NEEDED
  • A Web Developer to help maintain The W Connection website. Requires approx 4-6 hours a month to update existing copy and add content by posting materials. Interested in helping? Email Dawn@wconnection.org