Happy Holidays!

It is always hard to believe how fast a year goes by and yet here we are again with another new year just around the corner! 

We want to extend our sincerest of wishes to all that visit our website, a very joyous, restorative and happy New Year!

Personally for me, this year has brought many changes.  And with those changes, have come both challenges and joys. And there will be changes for WOW in the upcoming year as well.

I have returned to school for massage therapy which has been a long time goal and desire of mine.  It has been a challenge learning anatomy and physiology. Why can’t they call body parts uncomplicated names rather than Iliac (lower back) or posterior occipital ridge (the base of back of the skull)? I know these types of challenges will only make me stronger. LOL. But nevertheless, I am doing well at the moment.  The hands-on education, of course, is my favorite! 

I will graduate in about a year, by attending school in the evenings and Saturdays. And I can start an in-home massage therapy practice now. So I am busy decorating and setting up my massage room and now just await clients. As you might guess, my friends and family are enjoying my new additional career I have chosen as they are the recipients of many “practice” massages I have given them. I love the fact that I am able to help make their day a little less stressful while reaping the real therapeutic benefits that massage therapy offers.  As my education continues and I continue it on my own, far after my current schooling ends, I look forward to the new techniques and services I will be able to add, to further help people toward a healthier mind, body and spirit!

My children, Cory, age 12, and Eli, age 18, Danielle, age 22 and Joshua, age 25 are doing well.  This year I have also chosen to virtually school Cory. And although it has been a challenge, it is absolutely the best decision I have ever made when it has come to his education. I have seen him grow in many ways, not solely, academically, but in so many other ways also.  Eli, who is still at home, is still trying to find his way and is employed at Blockbuster in our local community.  He has been a challenge as he has a severe case of ADHD and if you are a mother of a child who exhibits these characteristics, you certainly are well aware of some of the challenges this disability presents! Both Danielle and Josh are on their own and working, raising families and realizing the “true meaning” of responsibility! LOL. 

So while I am struggling financially due to the changes in my life this year, the peace of mind and absolute certainty that my choices have been correct for myself and my family are well worth the financial sacrifices we have made. 

So now for the changes that will affect current WOW MOMS and those who will become WOW MOMS in the future. 

Our organization is small in size and donations have dropped due to the current economy.  And even though there are more single moms as ever to help, we are forced to make choices as to the services and benefits we can offer. 

The changes to our WOW MOM program for the upcoming year will be as follows:

1. We no longer will be sending out WOW MOM packets to all who sign up for a FREE WOW MOM membership.  However, we will still provide a WOW MOM ID number via email once you sign up.  And all benefits will only be provided to those who sign up. 

2. We will only provide scholarship recipients their scholarships, AFTER they have completed their time commitment to WOW (5 hours) as unfortunately, we have had several scholarship recipients over the years, NOT fulfill these requirements. So unfortunately we have chosen to alter our award process. Look for the new scholarship application to be online in January 2009.

3. We will increase our food and other types of gift cards to WOW MOMS throughout the year to both local and national WOW MOMS as we are pleased to inform you that WOW MOMS exist throughout the United States, not just here in Wisconsin! This of course is dependent upon our financial resources, but we believe some of the internal changes we have made, will assist us in doing so, even if our donations remain at the current level.

4. We are in the process of adding some benefits including access to free eye exams and glasses to LOCAL WOW MOMS who currently do not have this benefit provided to them.  We will inform you of this development once it is finalized, which hopefully, will be in February 2009. An awesome benefit for you! 

5. We will also provide, if the need is dire, new beds for WOW MOMS upon request and approval by our organization.  We are able to purchase beds at a discount for our WOW MOMS and without this awesome benefit provided by Verlo Mattress, we couldn’t.  So we can’t thank them enough for their support to our program!

6. An exciting new endeavor for WOW will be the formation of state by state resource secton that can be accessed on our website so that WOW MOMS everywhere can have access to assistance and support programs that may be able to help them in their local communities. We do strive to help single moms in as many states as we can.

We believe that the upcoming changes will help us lend a helping hand to MORE single moms throughout the United States, which has always been my personal goal and is the goal of WOW!

And finally, we are looking for a few local people, who can help us with fundraising and writing articles for our website.  We hope to extensively expand our resources for you but need help in doing so.

And as always, our website and our benefits are here for you.  Please utilize what you can. I hope you also remember, that no matter what your current personal situation is, that you can always reach out and lend a helping hand to someone else. 

On behalf of the WOW Board, we hope that you continue to empower your mind, your body and your spirit and those of your children. We wish you all a very Happy New Year!

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