Ministry reaching out to women in Charlotte area

New Life Purpose Christian Ministries and Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church will hold a forum April 25 for women who are overcoming struggles.

“My hope is we can connect women of faith who have had despair in their lives and understand they are not alone,” said the Rev. Ricou Williams, who leads New Life ministries. “It’s another thing to move into a position to help someone else.”

On April 14, Williams was reaching out to shelters in Charlotte to let women know about the event, which includes several speakers talking about homelessness, eviction, unemployment, day care, transportation, discouragement and frustration, lack of motivation, depression, chemical dependency and displacement or lack of family support.

“Our biggest thing is transportation,” Williams said. “A lot of shelters don’t provide transportation.”

He said the New Life’s Take 2 Enhancement programs work to provide resources to connect people with agencies that can help.

“We are connected with agencies and have been working with ladies in transition and resources,” Williams said. “People who fall between the cracks, they need to know people care.”

The vision for the ministry, sponsored by Pleasant Hill church, is to establish transitional house, for example for recovering alcoholics.

“We’re finding ways to service people in transition until we have the housing division to put them in the right direction and walk with them by providing resources and programs, such as the women’s forum,” Williams said.

The Take 2 Enhancement sessions help people dealing with substance abuse or mental health instabilities in therapeutic groups to enhance recovery. These sessions cater to family members with loved ones suffering from these conditions and individuals considering careers working with substance abuse and mental health issues. North Carolina Mental Health Consumers and National Alliance for Mental Illness will help facilitate these sessions. The health organizations are also offering certifications for licensure for peer support specialists and social work services.

The ministry holds Community Conventional Bible Studies, too, at 7 p.m. Thursdays at Pleasant Hill church. Williams said the aim is to provide participants with more than the average traditional Bible lesson by discussing methods used to evaluate and develop a concept of Biblical studies from a Theological perspective.

The ministry currently reaches out in other ways, too, holding Sunday morning devotional services at The Crossing in Steele Creek for patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

“We also assist mental health disorders, and we are looking for ways to provide more therapeutic activities for them such as arts and crafts, and movie nights,” Williams said.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Ministry reaching out to women in Charlotte area."