Sacred Share’s vision to not only support the widow but also to support her community is effective and holistic. The Light the Night dinner they have to honor widows also includes motivational talks from women who have walked a long road of widowhood and are now thriving. The practical and emotional ways Sacred Share meets and empowers women who have found themselves suddenly alone in life is truly a source of hope that fuels each one to believe that she is not alone, she can lean into support while doing her best. And each one, both widow and her community, are better because of it.
I have seen Jesus comforting and providing for widows and their families through the hearts in action of this ministry! The love, hard work and commitment of the women who organize and the volunteers give glory to God and bring Jesus to those they serve.
I had the opportunity to work with Sacred Share for a widow and her family in our city. They did a wonderful job doing clean up, repair and restoration on her home. Sacred Share was very organized, compassionate and grateful for the helping hands. We volunteered several times at this particular home, and developed a relationship with the widow.
I highly recommend donating funds, resources and your time with Sacred Share!
Sacred Share is a values-driven non-profit. I loved volunteering with Marina and the rest of the team to put together Valentines Day care packages/deliveries for some amazing women. There are many ways to donate or get involved by volunteering. Thank you Marina for your wonderful work supporting women whose live are enhanced by the extra care and compassion this organization brings.
The heart of sacred share encompasses what the church is/should be to the widow. I’ve been privileged to be just a small part of their efforts but I love witnessing the HUGE ripple effects they are making in communities- encouraging them to step up and walk along side widows in their times of need. Together, we can love the widows among us!
Sacredshare.org is near and dear to my heart. They help out widows such as myself to connect to my community during my hard times. My community consists of those who have been walking along my journey since I became a widow on March 18, 2013. My community is also people we met along the way and the gracious volunteers. On March 25, 2020 I lost my job due to COVID. I faced a financial hardship. I couldn’t afford my mortgage for months. I struggled to pay for my bills and even to buy groceries at times. They even helped pay for an emergency root canal out of pocket because my dental insurance ran out. Thank you, Sacredshare.org.
Sacred Share has made me as a widow feel visible, in a good way. They have delivered meals to me and my children and even a gift basket at Christmas. The gift basket was full of amazing gifts for both me and the kids but what was truly incredible is how it made my kids to not feel helpless. They are small and have no way to coordinate buying me a Christmas present. It made their eyes light up that your mom hadn't been forgotten, and that just because daddy isn't here to get me a gift there are people who remember mommy too.
Another thing I love about Sacred Share is there passion to empower my community. They have helped my friends understand what is helpful and how to help. They shine light on aspects of widowhood that are often forgotten, like you can give me a gift card for a message but then I have to coordinate and then pay for childcare which ends up adding more stress and guilt. They really go after empowering both us widows to ask for help and our communities to show up for us. Widowhood is uncomfortable for us all, but Sacred Share reminds us all that that is ok.
Loneliness is an epidemic. Being lonely after a loss can be devastating. Sacred Share is an organization that is creating programs to offer hope to the grieving widow who is learning to create a new life.
Unique to the mission of Sacred Share are educational programs and resources available to the widow's support system. Many of us want to help during a widow's grief but HOW? Sacred Share provides the HOW.
During Christmas 2019 I donated time and resources to Sacred Share by assembling baskets. After reading Facebook posts from the women who received the baskets, it warmed my heart to know that it brought them momentary joy, then I realized I personally knew two of them.
Get involved with Sacred Share today.
Sacred Share was created when a need was recognized to help struggling widows in ways other services or organizations may not have covered or been aware of. One unique aspect they offer is to help the circle of people who know a widow by empowering them with thoughtful suggestions to consider continuing ongoing support for a widow. It’s often that after a few weeks of their spouses passing that the immediate support dies down and people expect life to go now with a new normal fir the widow, if they’re unfamiliar with grief. Life does not just go on for a widow, grief is a long term process that comes in waves and can show up in unpredictable ways. Sacred Share is knowledgeable about the complicated journeys widows can fave. They can provide assistance if needed in certain ways to make a widows burden easier. People sometimes don’t know what to say or do when encountering a widow. Sometimes this causes people who want to do something to not act out of feeling awkward and helplessness. Sacred Share can provide guidance for such circumstances to help. I have personally seen Sacred Share help several widows struggling with various needs, which makes a widows burden just a bit easier. Losing a spouse, no matter the circumstances, is an extremely difficult thing to go through. I’m thankful an organization like Sacred Share exists to help these women and their families through this difficult time.
This is a beautiful non profit that is helping women in Austin Texas. It helps women find comfort in connecting with others who have suffered tremendous loss and hardship. The founder Marina has walked side by side her sister loss of her husband. Marina has a genuine and kind soul.
I have been on the board of Sacred Share for over 2 years now and have seen many lives impacted. My wife, Marina, started Sacred Share to assist “sisters’ grieving the loss of their spouse, walking alongside them in their pain and helping others (their family and friends) to better understand how to do the same.
We have had a number of friends lose their husbands over the years, often leaving behind little ones and didn't really know what to do to help. It wasn't until my wife's sister lost her husband. That is when we were able to experience, first hand, what it looked like to walk alongside someone in their grief. This experience taught us (especially my wife) a lot of what a widow truly needs to get through such a difficult life experience.
Since starting the organization, we have added windows to our network mostly through word of mouth and social media outreach. Each of our widows' stories are unique but all share the common fact - they are all grieving and going through a lot of pain due to their loss. We have been able to help them by rallying their friends and family to walk alongside them in their time of need, reminding their friends and family of simple things like don't forget about "Joanne" on her birthday or this week would have been Joanne and David's anniversary - please reach out to her. Or something simple like Joanne mentioned she sure could use help with the yard and her bathroom sink is backed up - can you help or find someone to help her with this?
We regularly send gift baskets to remind our widows they are not forgotten, do fund raisers for specific financial needs, host a quarterly "Light The Night" events to honor our widows with a special dinner for them and their immediate loved one. We also have a growing subgroup called "The Widows Table" to provide a monthly meetup for widows to connect and share with other widows.
We are only 2 years in but have laid a solid foundation to grow the organization. We are currently focused on widows in the Austin, TX area and in the Bay Area (where we lived for 15 years) but do see areas of opportunity to grow and hope to see Sacred Share flourish to a national then international organization to assist widows all around the world.
As a widow for 7 years I know the journey to healing first hand. Widow's need community, and not just any community but their own friends and family. Often times however, family and friends do not know how to help a widow in need. Sacred Share not only walks with widows helping them they uniquely work with her personal community to help them understand just how to help their friend or loved one.
Sacred Share truly has a mission to help widows and their families. The emphasis they place on "Seeing the widow" and growing her community are so essential and needed in an industry that often just throws money at a problem. Sacred Share seeks to empower women by building community and relationships to surround widows when they need it most. They also will hep women financially, often serving as a lifeline when hope is lost, but recognizing that having a strong support group is even more valuable in the long run than just getting a financial need met. The leaders of this organization have a hands-on approach, forming relationships with widows and serving them with love and compassion, as well as practicality.