GateWay Logo Original with OutlinesAs we promote GateWay of Hope and work on marketing the services we provide, several words keep emerging as key tags.

HOPE

This word is, of course, in our name but it covers everything we do at GateWay. When women first come through our doors, they may feel hopeless and powerless. They may wonder if life will ever improve.

Then they walk into GateWay and begin to hope.

Hope is a feeling of expectation, but it also involves trust. Women trust their hearts to us and as we work together, we experience a warm belief that hope exists and life can get better.

Hope grows as women meet with counselors and find safety in having someone listen to them.

Hope expands as women become involved in a group. The group relationship underscores the truth that these women are not alone. Other women struggle with the same problems. Other women want to learn more about Boundaries, Journaling and how to pray for their adult children.

Hope finds a plan as women begin the coaching relationship. They put action steps to their dreams and discover how to jump over the obstacles that once held them back.

Hope is a consistent topic at GateWay, and it is the goal of every conversation.

SAFETY

Women feel safe at GateWay. This involves physical safety, of course, but it’s more than that. They know all our services are confidential so they can be vulnerable and honest about what they share.

They discover they are not alone with their concerns, so they can safely incorporate other women into their support systems.

Women feel emotionally safe at GateWay. They know they can take off their masks and lay down their walls.

At GateWay, they can be their true selves. We will not condemn them. We will not betray their trust. We value their vulnerability and the trust they put in us.

We will not do anything that violates their trust.

ATMOSPHERE

We work hard to make the atmosphere unique and beautiful at GateWay. Almost every visitor who enters our space comments, “Oh, this is so beautiful! This doesn’t feel like an office.”

GateWay is beautiful and infused with a sense of peace. We want women to feel comfortable within our space and to feel the warmth and love of the GateWay experience.

Sometimes women wish we had a place for them to stay night. That’s part of our dream for the future. A place where women can take a break from the stresses of life, stay night if they want and walk the beautiful grounds of GateWay.

We decorate with women in mind, and we often see the visible effect when a woman crosses our threshold. She sighs and says, “Ah,” because she feels the peaceful atmosphere.

She lets go of her stress, her fears and her struggles within the walls of GateWay. She is moving toward a more empowering future and it feels so good.

ENCOURAGEMENT

In our difficult world, we are often faced with discouragement and despair. At GateWay of Hope, we work to encourage women in their personal gifts and talents and to help them become who God created them to be.

This encouragement might happen through a counseling session, the group experience, an hour with a coach or a time of prayer. It might look like a hug or a pretty card, a smile or a warm cup of coffee.

Encouragement includes total acceptance and the presence of a listening ear.

Women are encouraged to be their true selves at GateWay. This is where they come to journal for an hour, to de-stress in our Serenity Room, to express the anger that has been building for years, to tell the truth about their lives.

GateWay is the catalyst for moving forward, feeling valued and empowered. Women are encouraged to bring their knitting and sit a while. They can meet a friend at GateWay for coffee and a chat.

And as we encourage these women to be themselves, they also share that encouragement with each other. So the ripple effect continues.

TRANFORMED

When women come to GateWay and begin to experience our services, their lives change. As they feel hope and receive encouragement, they work through their issues.

As they meet other women, they realize they are not alone. They feel empowered to embrace their true identities.

In fact, some of our women experience such a transformation, they change their names. They feel like new creatures, able to function and succeed in life. They feel whole again, and we can see the difference in their faces.

Here’s the way one woman describes GateWay, “My life has been transformed by the counsel, resources and groups at GateWay of Hope. When I walk into GateWay, my walls come down, because I know it is safe.”

Our vision is “To help women transform their lives and create new legacies.”

As women become healthy, they return to their families and their communities more empowered to use their gifts and make an impact. Their children see the difference as their mothers live in wholeness, no longer encumbered by traumas from the past or living in dread for the future.

That’s what we do at GateWay of Hope. We help women discover hope, pursue healing and live in wholeness through Counseling, Coaching and Groups.

©2016 GateWay of Hope – Hope, Healing and Wholeness for Women – gwhope.org