Acting Programs Director Devon Stein spoke with The W Connection, a member organization of Nonprofit New York. We will continue to highlight the work of our members because we believe when your nonprofit is stronger, all of us are stronger.
Tell me about the organization and what you do.
The W Connection is a national non-profit of widows helping widows rebuild their lives after the life-changing event of losing a spouse. Unbeknownst to most people, there are almost 4 times as many widows as widowers in the US, and over 700,000 women become widows every year and the pandemic has increased these numbers dramatically
However, there are very few resources out there for widows beyond conventional grief counseling. But, when we lose our spouses, most widows also lose their financial partner, their social partner, their emotional partner, and their life partner.
The W Connection fills a crucial gap in a widow’s recovery—we offer education, connection, encouragement and empowerment through original programming, research, and the healing power of social connection
We are a small team, but our volunteerism has allowed us to help over 5000 widows find new meaning and fulfillment again in their lives.
How many people are on your team?
1.5
What population do you serve?
Widows within The United States.
Where do you see your organization in the next five years or ten years?
We hope to continually grow nationally, and increase membership across the United States. We are continuing our research on the effects of widowhood on women's health.
We want to enlarge our role as the voice of widows by partnering with other widows to share their stories. Just recently, we partnered with Tembi Locke, actress, author of the book From Scratch, and producer of a new Netflix series launching in September 2022.
How has partnering with Nonprofit New York helped you succeed?
We have been able to attend lots of training at Nonprofit New York. I specifically found the training on mergers very helpful. Pre-pandemic, we also attended networking events which were very helpful.
What are you currently working on that you want us to mention to our membership?
Our goal is to continue to grow nationally and our continued research on the impact of widowhood on women's health. We also hope to partner with other women to share their stories of hope, resilience, and how they recreated their life after widowhood.