Education & Programs Committee

The Education & Programs Committee puts together our monthly meetings by identifying timely and engaging speakers on topics that widows need to know.  We address the whole person, both inside and out, with topics ranging from health and nutrition to organizing and feeling safe in your home, dealing with relationships post-loss, and legal and financial issues.  We include social time and table discussion in each meeting as we learn so much from each other. This committee also develops relationships with professionals in the community with special training around issues that are important to our wisters. You can find more information and handouts from some of our previous speakers on the Resource Page.

Chapters & Social Committee

The purpose of this committee is to build local connections by planning fun widows-only activities around town and out-of-town. Members of this committee also maintains our private Facebook Page, leads table talk discussion during our monthly educational meetings and sets up ride-sharing to events. Once you’ve attended a monthly meeting, you’ll have access to our private Facebook Page and the “Members Only” Calendar of our website where you can check out all upcoming events. From movies and plays to concerts under the stars, trips to the Ballpark and trips to the Hill Country, we plan a wide array of activities to get you out of the house with a group of encouraging friends who understand your circumstances.

Widows In Need (Win) & Finance

The goal of the WIN Committee is to provide our Wisters with support and confidence to live independently. We do this by educating widows at our monthly meetings, providing resources on our website, connecting socially, and giving that additional “hand up” when needed.

Every widow meets the definition of a “widow in need”. Whether it’s therapy sessions, short-term financial support, or a simple massage, the WIN committee manages requests and when needed, provides financial support in an effort to get our wisters “unstuck” and moving forward. The Finance part of this committee keeps us in compliance with non-profit rules and manages our books.

We recognize that widows make up a large part of the retired poor in our country and most women’s financial needs grow larger after the loss of their spouse . Our short-term goal is to identify resources to serve widows in our community and our long-term goal is to lift more widows out of poverty and allow all widows, regardless of income or net worth levels, to be financially secure and more productive members of society.

“The pain associated with the administrative side of widowhood perpetuates the emotional pain and vice-versa. The widow hardly has time to plan the funeral before she’s required to go back to work. Then she has to figure out her finances, process paperwork, apply for benefits, and change account titles and beneficiary designations, all while handling her grief and that of those around her.”

— Joy D. Kirsch, CFP®, CeFT® And Founder, The Widow’s Journey

“The median amount that widows received from any of their spouses’ accounts (most commonly Survivor’s Social Security and Life Insurance) was $28,000.”

“Widows report their top financial challenges as: Becoming the sole financial decision maker, Adjusting to a loss in income and Navigating Paperwork.”

— Feb 2018 Survey Of Widows Sponsored By Merrill Lynch And Age Wave

Community Awareness & Fundraising

With only 4% of charitable dollars in the US spent on females in general, the plight of the widow is largely ignored. And yet losing a spouse is reported as the most difficult experience a person goes through (Age Wave 2018), young widows have little to no support in the community, and the rate of poverty among elderly widows is consistently three to four times higher than elderly married women.” (SSA, 2005) 

The goal of the Community Awareness & Fundraising Committee is to make the public aware of The Widow’s Journey and to keep us financially viable at both the organization level and the individual widow level.  With a million new widows being added each year, we aim to inform the public of the physical, emotional, psychological, social and financial challenges the widow faces and the support we provide during her journey. We want to get the word out so that each widow is better prepared to move back into society and “Love it Forward.”