18 Oct Women Helping Women Luncheon
This piece was guest authored by Becky Dunn, a friend of Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women & Children and a Mary Wheeler Circle member.
Gathering as strangers.
Last week, I stepped into a ballroom bustling with warmth and conversation. That’s what happens when you gather hundreds of women together in one place. There were familiar hellos, new introductions, and old friends reunited. And even among those who didn’t know each other, there was a sense of familiarity in the room — a shared goal can do that to a group of strangers.
As I looked around, I saw tables full of women who have hearts for making an eternal difference in this city. Women of all ages, walks of life, and diverse backgrounds joining together and eager to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
We lunched together, laughed together, and cried together as we heard stories that reminded each of us of why we were there. And at the center of these stores was a theme — invitation.
The invitation.
When Fanchon Stinger told the story of helping and befriending a homeless man she met on the street, laced throughout that story was an invitation. When the director of the women’s shelter shared how every month they have to turn away over 700 people because there aren’t enough beds, I heard the whispers of an invitation. When vision was cast for the new women’s shelter Wheeler will build and the Mary Wheeler Circle initiative that will help establish it…I caught sight of the invitation!
An invitation to join in on what God is already doing in this city. To band together, as women have been doing for hundreds of years, to take care of our sisters in need. To collectively leverage our means, influence, and ideas to change the landscapes of others’ lives forever. To say, “Not in our city, not on our watch.”
The invitation has been made ladies, and it’s time to circle up.
To learn more and join the Mary Wheeler Circle, go here.