For nine consecutive years, Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation Inc.’s annual conference has been enriching the lives of those in the community by empowering women.
Focusing on health, education, and financial wealth, the organization’s goal of seeing “women building strong families” and developing ladies into their total, complete selves has helped push the conference to greater heights each year.
“To see this grow into a ninth year is absolutely amazing and we have been blessed to have the opportunity to do this for so many years,” said the conference’s founder, Sister Mothyna James-Brightful, who started the program while serving out the last semester of her reign as Miss Morgan State University.
This year’s session will once again bring back dynamic speakers and leaders to hold forums, discussions, and information sessions on how to be well physically, emotionally, and spiritually. With the theme of “Own Your Own Legacy,” speakers and leaders of conference activities will be pushing women to go beyond their daily circumstances and leave a lasting mark for generations to come.
The 9th Annual Heal A Woman to Heal a Nation Conference will take place April 14 from 9am to 5 p.m. at the Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries in Baltimore. The cost for women is $35, with tickets for girls selling at $20. Past conference speakers have included leader of Fertile Ground, Navasha Daya and Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines, mother of rapper and actor Common. This year’s conference will feature certified life coach and businesswoman Annetta Wilson as its speaker.
Begun in 2004 as a one-day community service program at Morgan State University to cater to women, the HWHN conference has now branched out into successful programming not adult women and teens alike.
With its Butterfly Sistas program, aimed at young ladies ages 13 to 17, the group makes a point to educate and engage those who are most vulnerable.
“There are a number of challenges they are facing with understanding who they are, their identity, and how they fit into the world,” said James-Brightful. She began to engage the teens directly before realizing that women of all ages could benefit from the holistic focused care of the program.
According to statistics released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, only 35 percent of African-American children lived with two married parents in 2010. That number went up to 61 percent for Hispanics and 75 percent for White Americans.
“When we’re talking about women building stronger families, we’re talking about literally repairing the damage that has occurred within our community so we can have healthy thriving neighborhoods,” said James-Brightful.
In conjunction with the Butterfly Sistas program, Heal a Woman Heal a Nation Inc. also runs The Women’s University, a community facility offering courses to help women further their education and cultural needs.
