Graduation Day

The day had finally arrived! After 6 months of classes and seminars the participants of the Fresh Start program received their certificates of completion. This was the first time that the program was delivered to the same group of women over a 6 month period. Many thanks to the staff of Safe Haven for allowing Fresh Start for Women to provide services to their clients.

June 23, 2007 brought to a close a program in which the staff and volunteers of Fresh Start for Women offered the following:

January: Goal Setting
February & March: Money Management/Credit Bylaws – Parts 1 & 2
April: Developing Healthy Relationships
May: Self-Examination (Renew Thyself – Forgiveness)
June: Positive Affirmations (Empowerment)

The day was filled with tears of joy and yet a bit of sadness as a bond that had been developed was coming to an end. As the women were awarded their certificates each was invited to share the most important lessons learned during their time with FSFW. There were a number of responses the most poignant one coming from a young lady exclaiming, “I’ve learned that I’m important that women are important.”

Final words of encouragement were delivered by Mrs. Pettigrew in which she encouraged each to continue on their road to healing. Said Mrs. Pettigrew, “remember you are not defined by the incidents of the past, use them instead to spring forward to a brighter future.” In celebration the women were treated to lunch at a local restaurant.

Fresh Start for Women will do a follow-up visit in late August or early September to measure the progress of the women from the program. In the interim FSFW will evaluate the effectiveness of the program and make changes as recommended for the next offering.