are incredible! AN A DVENT H EALTH FOR WOMEN SERIES CAROLYN MOOR: From Grief to Growth

Widowed in 2000 on Valentine’s Day, Carolyn Moor struggled to find resources and support for healing and growth, while caring for two young daughters and running her interior design firm. Eventually she began informally mentoring other female widows and founded the Modern Widows Club in 2011. Today, Modern Widows Club is a mentor, leadership and advocacy organization that’s focused on women’s health.

M“odern Widows Club started out as truly social support, widow to widow. But I started realizing widows are everywhere and these women want to discover their full potential as leaders. We wanted to make sure widows had the support they needed on the leadership level. Most of the women that come to us are looking for compassionate support. And the compassionate support is what takes them from grief to growth,” Carolyn explains.

So, she created a leadership development platform and before long, widows came to her asking if they could take the concept back to their own communities — Central Florida is the epicenter of the organization but there are now Modern Widows Clubs in 40 communities across the U.S., internationally in countries like Africa, India, Canada and Israel, as well as three virtual communities.

“Anyone can connect through the virtual community and it’s going to continue to grow — it certainly did during the pandemic. We were shocked that so many places of worship and even hospice outreach ended during the pandemic right at a time when our ladies were suffering isolation, loneli- ness, etc. We delivered about 192,000 services last year — meaning a widow made contact with one of our programs,” she says.

Programs continue to expand to meet the unique needs of widows, such as a group for survivors of suicide and a Spanish-speaking community. And Carolyn has focused a lot on widow research and advocacy.

“We didn’t want to create programs we just thought widows wanted, we wanted to actually give them a voice in what we were creating. The beautiful thing about creating a network is we have attorneys, doctors, realtors, mental health counselors, etc. who are widowed, and all those women start helping the other women in the organization. It’s a whole sub-culture and you want those resources for the women who are scared and lost. That’s what I was looking for when I became widowed 22 years ago — and it was just radio silence. And I was just shocked that I — someone who was smart, extremely resourceful, had my own business — couldn’t find any resources,” she adds.

She found New Hope for Kids, but it was only a one-year program. “Modern Widows Club answers the question, ‘What do I do with the rest of my life when I leave grief resources?’ It’s a safe place for ladies to land and get the resources and build new communities when their identity has been shattered. Because not one woman wants to be in our club, including myself,” Carolyn continues.

The biggest challenge for Carolyn is garnering funding and public support. “It’s very hard to find funding because widow support is completely unidentified as an issue and cause. We’re battling against public awareness. Widows are unseen, unsupported and unmeasured. What is unmeasured will always be underserved,” she explains.

She only began collecting a salary and benefits for her work in 2019 — she had continued doing interior design up until that point. Now she hires widows to help run the programs while keeping overhead as lean as possible. About 80% of the organization’s funding comes from other widows.

To help fundraise, Moderns Widow Club will be releasing a book (on June 23, International Widows Day) called Legendary Widows: Stories of Legacy. It will include 12 women’s stories, some well-known (Eleanor Roosevelt) and others not as well known. “When you get on the advocacy level you go looking for other women who solved really hard problems and you learn from them. We have a book club, and we got our members to help us write these bios. The book is going to feature the bios of the 12 ladies but then it’s going to have a section called ‘Moor Thoughts’ [Carolyn’s last name] and I’m going to share why these women have impacted my life,” Carolyn explains.

The book will be part of a series and Carolyn hopes it not only raises funds for Modern Widows Club programs but also changes the stigma around female widowhood. “I’m only one voice but I’m really one voice for millions of widows when I speak. My goal is to change the experience for the next generation. There is a way to move from grief to growth and we’re going to be there with them,” she says.

You can connect with Modern Widows Club by calling 844-4-A-WIDOW, emailing support@modernwidowsclub.org or visiting moderwidowsclub.org

WHAT IS A WOMEN’S HEALTH NAVIGATOR?

A health navigator is a specially trained registered nurse whose job is to make life easier for each and every woman through expert clinical assistance and educational, emotional and spiritual support. All calls are confidential; anyone can self-refer; and insurance is not required to talk or meet.

AdventHealth for Women’s health navigators provide complimentary services that help you coordinate your overall care and answer any questions you may have. These services include:

• Finding a care provider

• Answering your health care questions

• Assistance with scheduling annual office visits and screenings

• Resources and support for you and your family

• Coordination of care among multiple providers and facilities

To contact the Health Navigation Team, call 407-720-5191 or visit HerHealthNavigator.com

tastes&experiences

shine on!

The friendliest neighborhood eatery serves up consistently good food in an eclectic, cozy atmosphere that lures in more than those within walking distance of its Shine Avenue location. Not only did Maxine’s On Shine receive a Michelin recommendation last year, but inventively thrived during the pandemic converting the parking lot into an outdoor dining haven. For 10 years Maxine and Kirt Earhart have warmly welcomed guests while longtime chef George Vogelbacher has created fromscratch dishes. The popular Rejuicination Brunch, Friday through Sunday, and happy hour on Thursday and Friday only add to the appeal. maxinesonshine.com