A Space to Nurture Dreams to Reality
Tana Roseboro, Healing the WOMBman, Hercules, CA
Last September, the NBA Incubate Initiative welcomed its largest SENT Seminar cohort yet! The annual four-day training opportunity equips Disciples social entrepreneurs of faith for leadership and change as they nurture emerging health and social service ministries. Healing the WOMBman in Hercules, California, will provide face-to-face talks and workshops to bring women of color together to discuss how to heal their wombs (the places where all life, love, authenticity, and creativity arise) spiritually and mentally in community.
Have you ever signed yourself up for something when you are not quite sure what it is all about? Well, that is how I felt about accepting the invitation to participate in the 2018 SENT Seminar. It all sounded pretty good, but I wondered if any group could really be interested in what I have only been thinking about doing. Who would want to listen to an idea about healing the (physical and spiritual) womb of women to create a space of healing for communities? Other than my close circle of friends and family, who would take me seriously? The National Benevolent Association of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is the group that really wanted to hear and learn about what was on my heart and bouncing around in my brain. The plans they had for my idea were more than I could have ever expected or even thought about to ask for help with. The NBA set me up to launch my dream; with my trajectory set toward success.
Prior to my arrival in St. Louis, I became excited while perusing the list of what was going to be offered. There was going to be coaching on how to navigate social media and information around the laws of the nonprofit world. There was plenty of leadership coaching and fundraising 101 provided as well. During the seminar, I was reminded to actively make self-care a priority because burnout is real. There was ample opportunity to share with members of my cohort about their social visions and active work. I was pleased to experience the well-thought-out workshops and activities that were designed to gift me with as much information as possible to pull off Healing the WOMBman: Wisdom of Matriarchs Before. Towards the end of the seminar, I was in a state of awe; I felt like I just might be able to pull this heart dream off! With the help of the National Benevolent Association, a space of healing energy for women can be provided. A place where women of color can come together to reclaim and share their ancestral wisdom can be a reality. The SENT Seminar did for me what Healing the WOMBman will do for other women: open a space to nurture dreams to reality. It was wonderful to be in a space where there were other dreamers, social entrepreneurs, and people who just want to help other people be their very best. I left St. Louis knowing that I need to move beyond my headspace and to get to work on the vision God has given me.
Healing the WOMBman will provide face-to-face talks and workshops to bring women of color together to discuss how to heal our wombs (the places where all life, love, authenticity, and creativity arise), spiritually and mentally in community. I will utilize the concepts of ‘Croning’, ‘Mother Wit’ and ‘Ancestral Methodologies – including oral healing by telling, retelling and giving voice to’. This will be open to anyone woman-identified, from any ethnicity, but with a focus on African and African American women of color wisdom and experiences.
The NBA incubates new ministries, supporting social entrepreneurs of faith who are serving their communities in a variety of innovative ways and empowering these Disciples-led health and social service projects to focus on growth, impact, and sustainability. Learn more at nbacares.org/incubate
