Happy New (fiscal) Year from Women United of the Mid-South!  It’s hard to believe that just a short six months ago we were meeting and greeting each other amidst a flurry of winter coats, scarves and gloves that have long since been relegated to the back of the closet.  We hope this quick update finds each of you happy, healthy, and successfully managing the sweltering summer weather!...Well today, the monsoon of rain!

In April’s Women United newsletter, we shared that our leadership team had been busily working behind the scenes to lay the groundwork that would allow us to successfully begin to advocate for systemic change across the Mid-South.  We have had the opportunity to meet with a number of community leaders who are already passionately invested in efforts to lift women out of poverty and, using the agencies already aligned with Driving The Dream standards, propel them along the path towards living the life of their dreams.  The sustainable impact of Driving the Dream is already beginning to ripple powerfully through the communities that are touched by the agencies who have adopted and implemented the model.  If you are not already familiar with United Way of the Mid-South’s Driving The Dream initiative, we encourage you to explore it at  https://www.uwmidsouth.org/driving-the-dream/.   

Through our meetings, we have identified a number of ways that Women United can align with the important work already going on in Memphis and the surrounding area.  We are excited to invite you to participate in the the following events that we have identified as opportunities for Women United to step up to the mic and begin amplifying this work, through our shared words, networks, resources and deeds. 

We appreciate the patience, grace and faith that you have shown in our efforts as we have developed through the crawling stage of our organizational infancy.  Our first steps have been necessarily cautious and constrained, providing us with a foundation we can fearlessly push off from as we spring into action.  Good things, as they say, take time, and we are confident that Women United will be worth the wait!  We look forward to hearing from you as we continue to move forward and hope to see you out and about as we Lead the Charge and Inspire the Change throughout the Mid-South.