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Held on October 26, 2017, the 18th Annual WISEPlace “A Home for the Holidays” took place in Orange, CA celebrating the success stories of women creating better lives. WISEPlace transforms the lives of women every year by providing “safe, affordable transitional housing, healthy meals, financial-empowerment curriculum and employment assistance” helping women escape homelessness and gain independence.
Featuring an evening of entertainment with a dinner and live auction, “A Home for the Holidays” inspired attendees by depicting the change we can create when we utilize our power and help others. The event offered individual tickets, table packages, donations, advertising options and sponsorship opportunities. All proceeds raised went to WISEPlace’s program assisting women residents in their journey to self-sufficiency.
NAWRB was in attendance and witnessed the wonderful teamwork that makes the program possible every year. We were represented by our CEO and President Desirée Patno who attended the event with Kellie Q. Aamodt, Vice President, U.S. Inside Sales, UPS.
“It was a privilege to be able to participate in this brilliant event and program,” stated Desirée Patno, NAWRB CEO and President. “Women need to support one another and get together to strengthen our relationships, especially with the high poverty levels that women experience. This is a great reminder of all we can accomplish when we put our vision and passion into practice with effective collaboration.”
“For 30 years, WISEPlace has been making a difference in the lives of homeless women,” Kellie Q. Aamodt said. “‘A Home for the Holidays’ is the largest fundraising event and continues to be one of the best ways to support homeless women and to start off your holiday shopping. A great event for a great cause!”
“WISEPlace is one of the few places where an unaccompanied homeless woman can go to put her life back together,” stated Kathleen Davis Bowman, Executive Director, WISEPlace. “Our annual ‘A Home for the Holidays’ event is our opportunity to give our donors a glimpse of the impact our programming has on the lives of the women we serve. Together with their personal hard work, we are able to change the trajectory of their lives from homeless and hopeless to self-sufficient and confident. Homeless women have unique needs and are particularly vulnerable, and women just seem to understand too well how truly frightening homelessness would be. We are excited at the prospect of sharing our very unique programming with the women of NAWRB, and look forward to a partnership in solving the issue of homelessness for the 1 in 4 homeless adults that are unaccompanied women.”
In the fast-paced business world, we often overlook the celebration of our triumphs because we’re already focused on the next goal. “A Home for the Holidays” reminded attendees of the importance of recognizing your success and those of others.
The awareness, inspiration, collaboration and sheer joy of events like this is priceless, and the emotional side of our work can motivate us to reach and aim further than we ever thought possible. We must make time in our schedules to appreciate the results of our efforts and remind ourselves of why we do what we do.
Please view a video of the 2017 18th Annual “A Home for the Holidays” below.