“Currently, there are 12 million widows in the U.S., 245 million widows globally and about 585 million children who are directly affected.

 

Problem Challenge: Widows from across the globe have been historically undervalued, stigmatized, isolated and deemed voiceless socially, economically, emotionally, and spiritually. Modern Widows Club is committed to being advocates to give widows a voice, enable and empower them to move forward and become vital members of society once again able to thrive”.

 

Mission Statement: “We serve to empower widows to lean into life, build resilience and release their potential to make a positive difference in the world”. 

 

As a women become newly widowed, she steps into the ongoing process of defining a new (and unwanted) self-identity without her partner. This reality is further heightened when she finds herself in a time-space quandary. For her, time has stood still, for the world at large, it has continued. It does not take long for her self-conscious awareness to reveal that these life circumstances cause a sudden and forever change. This internal and external change causes her to seek and find others by way of ‘resocialization’, otherwise known as ‘finding her tribe.’

When she joins a new group, she will take on new norms, values, and behaviors of that created ‘environment.’ This is why the positive approach we foster at MWC is vitally important in her healing and self-actualization process. We meet her right where she’s at. Her first few steps will set the future trajectory for her ‘new me’ life.  At MWC, we equally recognize and respect all our differences as an interfaith, multi-generational nonprofit. Our shared values and focus on unconditional love are what makes us stand out and highly effective in building greater communities. 

 

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At MWC we are interested in research-based analysis, empirical investigations and surveys, conversations about subcultures, sociology, stigma and ‘dependency culture’ studies as well as positive psychology, ethnomethodology, physiologic effects of grief, the gender gap, meaning making, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (8 levels), emotional intelligence, pain to purpose resilience building, metanoia, adrenal fatigue, thanatology, neuroscience, compassion, trust, vulnerability, justice and spirituality. 

These assist us in serving both our problem challenge and mission statement from the inside out. We serve a myriad of social needs for widows and we also raise awareness through advocacy to bring understanding.

As one MWC widow said, “I actually had no idea about how life altering becoming a widow was until I found myself becoming one. In one breathe, everything I believed about myself disappeared. I went from being seen as a married woman to being known only as a grieving widow. The impact is indescribable. I needed to find others who understood this and ask a lot of safe and confidential questions”.

 

Women come into widowhood with different challenges; disadvantages and advantages. They need help in trusting again, reducing fears on every level about a changing world and continual encouragement with re-defining themselves. At MWC, they are able to face their future in a nonjudgemental, tender, compassionate, safe and nurturing space with others who have their highest intention in mind. To do that, we need to challenge boundaries and structures, develop wide-spread community partnerships, raise awareness of vulnerabilities, to give empathy with limitations, and forge a livable path to generate solid, positive changes for these women. Finding role models and positive communities is the catalyst that sparks her transformative journey. Seeing is believing.

 

We hope to serve as a bridge of understanding, comfort, compassion and positive change between a widow and society at large.