Fresh Start Retreat - October 23 - 25, 2009

Friday evening began with the ladies being welcomed to the Fresh Start Retreat. Dr. Pettigrew waved the traditional magic wand explaining it was available for anyone to use should they feel the need to banish negative energy. After the introductions and a brief outline of the weekend’s activities the ladies were escorted to a room which had been transformed into a tranquil oasis complete with soft music to set the mood. It was a place where each woman was pampered with hand massages and facials. It was in this room that the ladies received their gift bags filled with goodies as well as journals that they would use for the entire retreat. But the most important activity was performed personally by Dr. Pettigrew. Taking her cue from Jesus she humbly and lovingly washed their feet and gave them foot and leg massages. The evening ended with reminders to the ladies to arrive early for breakfast on Saturday morning and be prepared for the work ahead.

After breakfast on Saturday morning the Renew Thyself Session began with Dr. Pettigrew sharing a brief history of her own journey to a Fresh Start that culminated in the birth of Fresh Start for Women. Next Ms. Bettye Ferguson opened the lines of communication with her short skit between a woman and her abusive husband. The ladies were invited to share their earliest memories of hurt and pain and their reactions to them.

Throughout this session emphasis was placed on forgiveness and its importance to the healing process. In attendance was one woman who had just buried her 21 year old daughter 2 weeks prior. She was invited to the circle and everyone embraced her and prayed for her. It was truly a moving moment. The session ended with the women being given time to write in their journals.

Next Ms. Phyllis Taylor took the ladies through an exercise in which they were encouraged to paint as a form of healing therapy. Once the ladies got over the initial fear of being judged for their painting skills they jumped in and had a wonderful time. Many painted more than one piece each with a meaning that was important to them. After this activity the ladies were served lunch prepared by Dr. Pettigrew that included homemade vegetable soup and chicken salad sandwiches. Afterwards there was free time for reflection and journaling.

Dr. Pettigrew even surprised the ladies with volunteer Mr. Jerrell Riddles who provided them with massages.

The ladies were next invited to participate in the Envisioning You session. It was in this session that Dr. Pettigrew talked about mapping a plan for success. The ladies were encouraged to do the D’s:
• Decide what you want
• Determine to make it happen
• Diligently Do everything in your power to achieve it
• Detach yourself from the results

The ladies were encouraged to:
• Explore themselves by recognizing their “uniqueness”
• Discover, Define & Develop themselves by tapping into new talent and experiencing growth
• They were encouraged to honor themselves, mind, body and soul which meant “Love being You”
• Finally they were encouraged to change their environment by removing negative energy and surrounding themselves with people of equal or greater ability, aptitude and experience.

Next the ladies were invited to the Affirmation Circle, in which each woman pulled an affirmation from the circle and using the woman to their left as their mirror shared that affirmation with confidence and faith. Finally, the ladies were asked by Dr. Pettigrew to close their eyes and listen only to her voice as she took them on a journey through the forest. The ladies were then encouraged to create a visual of their hopes, dreams and desires by creating their own personally designed collage.

The ladies had a lot to digest during their free time before dinner would be served. While they finished up their projects or just relaxed or wrote in their journals, Dr. Pettigrew was downstairs preparing a spaghetti dinner. At dinner Ms. Pamela Burrell shared some final words of encouragement. Of course the day had been long and tiring but the ladies expressed a genuine appreciation for the work being done.

The only thing left to do was to wrap it all together and that was done on Sunday morning. After breakfast Dr. Pettigrew gave some final words of encouragement at the same time presenting the ladies with their own Fresh Start mirror as a reminder to continue to say their affirmations each day. Next the ladies were invited to share their experiences of the weekend as well as sharing their collages which to their surprise had been lovingly framed by Dr. Pettigrew that morning while all were asleep. Lastly, the ladies were asked to write down at least one thing they were ready to let go and let God. These were then placed inside balloons and together they all walked outside to release them amid heartfelt prayers. This brought to a close another successful Fresh Star Retreat.

Fresh Start for Women wishes to extend a special thanks to Ms. Sharon Prater, photographer for documenting the retreat through pictures and video.

FSFW and the Year Thus Far

Fresh Start for Women has had a very busy year! Not only has the organization conducted several workshops; in May Fresh Start for Women conducted its first Mother’s Day Luncheon in honor of the many mothers who have gone through the program since 2004.

The last workshop to date was conducted on Saturday July 11, 2009, entitled “Understanding God’s Plan in Your Suffering”. It was presented at the Piccadilly Cafeteria in S Dekalb Mall and was open to the public. As in the first presentation done in November 2008 this workshop used the Book of Job as the backdrop for the discussions beginning with speakers Minister Willie Bell Pettigrew and Ms. Darlene Sheardon discussing” Self- Righteousness - What Did I do Wrong” and “Friend or Foe” respectively.These two discussions were the backdrop for Dr. Pettigrew as she brought it all together with “Your End is better than Your Beginning”.

It was in this session that Dr. Pettigrew made a correlation between life’s experiences and the different phases of pregnancy. Suffice it to say that her lively, heartfelt way of making it plain revealed wonderful truths and at the same time elicited nods of agreement in between bouts of laughter. In the end the workshop achieved its goal of encouraging all through whatever circumstance they may currently be experiencing. As is the tradition of every conference/seminar or workshop Dr. Pettigrew invited the attendees to participate in the Affirmation Circle and share testimony whenever led. Finally, Dr. Pettigrew took the attendees on a journey through the forest with its many surprises, bumps and bruises to the ultimate climax of meeting each other on a spiritual plane.

In August Dr. Pettigrew announced the release of her self-published audio book, “Journey to a Fresh Start – Releasing the Junk…Revealing the Jewels”. This labor of love is not only Dr. Pettigrew’s story of healing from abuse, rape and domestic violence; it is also the triumphant story of the birth of Fresh Start for Women as well as the You are a Precious Jewel program for teen girls.

Finally, Dr. Pettigrew and her staff of volunteers are currently planning the Fresh Start Retreat scheduled for October 23 – 25th at the Villa International Atlanta Hotel. This 3-day event begins with the Fresh Start Spa on Friday evening. On Saturday the women will begin the hard work of examining their lives with the first session being “Renew Thyself” in which forgiveness is the order of the day. This session requires open and honest personal self-evaluation. This is followed by the session “Envisioning You”. In this session participants begin to discover their goals and aspirations. It is also in this session that they will begin to see themselves the way God does. In so doing they will be able to set the stage for moving forward and reaching their highest potential.

Throughout Saturday the women will be given ample opportunity for quiet reflection as well as time to fellowship with each other. The day will climax with dinner and inspirational message delivered by a special guest. Finally on Sunday the women wrap it all together. It is during these final hours that the women can share their experiences from the weekend as well as their very own personally designed roadmap to success. The retreat closes out with the Balloon Release where Let Go and Let God is the goal.

Anyone interested in attending the retreat should contact Dr. Pettigrew at 404.543.1017 or janice@freshstartforwomen.org for more information.

All in all Fresh Start for Women is proud of the accomplishments made for 2009 and look forward to even greater strides in 2010.

Understanding God's Plan in Your Suffering

On Saturday July 11, 2009 Fresh Start for Women once again presented the workshop Understanding God’s Plan in Your Suffering. It was presented at the Piccadilly Cafeteria in S Dekalb Mall and was open to the public. As in the first presentation the workshop used the Book of Job as the backdrop for the discussions beginning with speakers Willie Bell Pettigrew and Ms. Darlene Sheardon discussing Self= Righteousness and Friend or Foe respectively.

These two discussions were the backdrop for Dr. Pettigrew as she brought it all together with Your End is Better than Your Beginning. It was in this session that Dr. Pettigrew was able to make a correlation between life’s experiences and the different phases of pregnancy. Suffice it to say that her lively, heartfelt way of making it plain shared wonderful truths and at the same time elicited nods of agreement in between bouts of laughter. In the end the workshop achieved its goal of encouraging all through whatever circumstance they may be currently experiencing.

As is the tradition of every conference/seminar or workshop Dr. Pettigrew invited the attendees to participate in the Affirmation Circle and share testimony as led. Finally, Dr. Pettigrew took the attendees on a journey through the forest with its many surprises, bumps and bruises to the ultimate climax of meeting each other on a spiritual plain.

Keep da Change Mother's Day Luncheon

On Saturday May 9, 2009 Fresh for Women with NuRevelations held its first annual Mother's Day Luncheon. The luncheon was dedicated to mothers who participated in the respective programs dedicated to rebuilding self-esteem for former victims of domestic violence. The day started with words of inspiration and encouragedment followed by songs of praise and worship by gospel artist Ms. Globee Pope.
The day could not have happened if it weren't for the many sponsors and donors such as A T & T Windward Pioneers, Ms. Faye Dimassimo, Mr. Robert Goodwin, Ms. Gwen , Mrs. Betty Gates and many many others.

The event was a huge success thanks to the assistance of our dedicated volunteers, Mrs. Betty Gates, Mrs. Ebani Lambert and photographer Ms. Sharon Prater. The mother's in attendance received a number of wonderful gifts including a Walmart gift card. "We wanted to encourage the women to continue on with the positive changes they've made in their lives, thus the title Keep da Change," said Dr. Pettigrew of Fresh Start for Women.


The luncheon was held at the Piccadilly Cafeteria in South Dekalb Mall. Thanks to the volunteers it was transformed into a special place just for our mothers. The mothers also had the opportunity to share their experiences and encourage each other. And as is always a part of every Fresh Start for Women program they participated in the Affirmation Circle. Finally to close out the event a special prayer and song was led by Ms. Darlene Sheardon of NuRevelations. Please visit the photo gallery soon to view pictures of this wonderous event.

Battered But Not Broken

On Sunday March 29, 2009 Fresh Start for Women participated in the Battered But Not Broken Seminar held at Berean Adventist Church in Atlanta Ga. The seminar was hosted by Ms. Darlene Sheardon founder of NuRevelations LLC. Like Mrs. Pettigrew, Ms. Sheardon has a passion for the problem of domestic violence. The seminar focused on educating those in attendance on just what domestic violence is including warning signs and other helpful information.

Ms. Sheardon believes that more needs to be done in the faith community to address this issue and has dedicated herself to doing all she can to bring attention to and resolution to the problem. Ms. Sheardon worked closely with Fresh Start for Women in 2008 on a number of workshops and seminars helping women to emerge stronger and wiser from the experience of domestic violence.

At Sunday's seminar Mrs. Pettigrew used the Affirmation Circle, which is an integral part of the Fresh Start for Women program to encourage and instill in the women positive thoughts thus negating the negative messages that have been a part of their lives for such a long time. Gathered in a circle the women pulled affirmations from the circle and using the woman to her left as her mirror recited the chosen affirmation. For some it was an emotional process but as Mrs. Pettigrew reminded them the more they make the positive a part of their daily lives the more they will begin to own and believe it. Armed with this knowledge the women began to let go and let God.

Fresh Start for Women in conjunction with NuRevelations is planning a special luncheon for the mothers who have gone through the Fresh Start for Women program in the past 5 years as well as mothers who have attended NuRevelations seminars.

Goal Setting 2009

Once again Fresh Start for Women conducted its Goal Setting seminar. This year it was held at the Last Day Outreach Christian Center in Covington, GA.

The ladies in attendance were encouraged to examine 2008 and look for areas of improvement for 2009. The seminar was led by founder and CEO Dr. Janice G. Pettigrew. Dr. Pettigrew gave the ladies 10 steps to follow to achieve any goal. They were:

1. Write it Down
2. List Personal Benefits
3. Analyze Current Situations
4. Identify Obstacles and Risks
5. Identify Investment and Sacrifices
6. List Knowledge Requirements
7. Get a Support Team
8. Develop the Plan
9. Set a Deadline
10. Reward and Celebrate

Using her own goal of losing weight she walked the ladies through her plan and then the fun began as time was allotted for each to jot one goal down and following the above map out a plan for success. Everyone shared their goals and actually found a support team in the small group in attendance that day. It was agreed that Fresh Start would check back in 90 days to see how everyone was doing.

A special treat this year was Ms. Phyllis Taylor helping the ladies through creative expressions. This exercise is destined to become a staple at all seminars, workshops or conferences just like the Affirmation Circle.

The next seminar will be discussing Developing Healthy Relationships on March 28, 2009 back at Last Day Outreach Christian Center. Please call 404.543.1017 for more information.

Fresh Start for Women Goes to Camilla, GA

On Saturday January 31st Fresh Start for Women founder Janice Pettigrew participated in the Brown Chapel Women's Conference entitled, "Who Hears You When You Cry". Invited by Bishop-elect Michael Davis, Mrs. Pettigrew used the opportunity to share her experiences of abuse and domestic violence with the women in attendance. She also used the opportunity to encourage the women to not be defined by their circumstances and to continue to trust in God and know without a doubt that there are better things ahead in their lives.

The conference used Proverbs 31 of the virtuous woman as the backdrop for this conference. Keeping with this theme Mrs. Pettigrew also invited the women to participate in the affirmation circle. A key component in all the Fresh Start for Women conferences, workshops and/or retreats.

Bishop-elect Davis assured the women that he would do all within his power to bring to them resources needed to deal with any and all issues they may be facing. Mrs. Pettigrew was invited to return at a later date to conduct any one of the Fresh Start for Women conferences that have been widely accepted at the Last Day Outreach Ministry in Covington, GA.