Lots of Good News
(And we need your help!)
Here’s the Good News—really Good News!
- Wonderful Cabaret, raising $7500, but more importantly, just a great event empowering all of us!
- New interest in leadership positions within our nonprofit and programs
- New York SOARS, Access to Recovery—Joy is on the verge of being approved as a provider of non-traditional recovery services—and will be paid for a lot of her work!
- We are adding Couples Counseling to our services. Joy brings over 25 years of experience and teaching. Since relationships contribute to almost all relapses—couples counseling is a much needed support not provided elsewhere.
- Reconnection Circles program to be launched, helping individuals in recovery re-establish and heal ties with family members. With Immanuel Baptist Church we’ve turned in our best grant to date for helping to fund this program. Again—another service not provided elsewhere.
- We’ve worked with 218 women at Liberty Manor as we complete 4 years of providing services. Project Empower itself turns 5 this year—who said we wouldn’t make it?
- Just in the past week I’ve received messages from a number of women we’ve worked with over the past four years, with thanks for our program. Here’s one recent email:
Hi Joy, I’m so happy to hear that project empower is so strong after 5 years!! That’s wonderful. It did a lot for me while I was at liberty manor. Just over a year ago was that great cabaret that I got the privilege to dance in ‘We Are Family.’ You’re doing a wonderful thing with that program. I am busy with work, and can’t attend the Friday groups, but I still appreciate you and the group. Just over 15 month clean and sober. For me that is a true miracle. I have my girls 1/2 time, I’m working part-time, and recently started running so I could take off some of the weight I gained when I got clean–30 pounds since February!! I’m very happy and doing well. Thank you for including me on your email group. Although I can’t usually attend, I like feeling included by you. Thanks a lot Joy for everything! Peace and love to you. . .
- We have some new support in fundraising—training/advice and volunteers!
- Joy is meeting with the chief operations officer of Catholic Family Center (Liberty Manor’s parent) on June 27th for creative exploration!
Thank you for the many ways you support us. Please know that funding of all kinds is crucially important. A few of the things we have learned:
- Faith-based programs are being favored for grants as they tend to have better outcomes! We didn’t realize we were a faith-based initiative! We do not (and are not allowed to) proselytize. We work with people from all backgrounds.
- Smaller nonprofits are now being favored. When you consider what we have accomplished over five years, there’s been a huge wallop per dollar compared to large nonprofits
- The bulk of support for nonprofits comes from individual donors. This creates sustainability that grantors look for! The individual donor is also much more time effective. As one of our advisors pointed out, we can raise more in one coffee meeting with a prospective donor than we can doing a Cabaret. (Don’t worry, we won’t stop doing the Cabaret!)
That being said, that is one of the ways we need you:
- Support us financially yourself. Would you consider a gift of $25 a month? Or perhaps you are able to give much more? All sizes of gifts are welcome and have a great effect!
- Perhaps you know people of means that would be energized with our program—kindly connect with them.
- Help us find locations to speak about Project Empower at your church (adult forum and/or preaching), service groups, or even a group of your friends.
Our motto is still Changing the World One Woman at a Time—although men are sneaking into our programs as well! Thank you for being a part of healing our broken world.
