Stillpoint Women Encouraging Empowerment Program (SWEEP)

The mission of the Stillpoint Women Encouraging Empowerment Program (SWEEP) is to assist women through challenging life situations by empowering them to make the best choices for themselves and their children and to live a more spiritually-directed lifestyle. The metaphor of SWEEP is that of sweeping out old sabotaging beliefs and behaviors in order to allow new, self-enhancing beliefs to flourish from which life-affirming choices can be made.

SWEEP emerged from the Stillpoint Foundation's ongoing commitment to serve women in need through its mission "to promote and develop educational, spiritual and mentoring materials, programs, and related services that reach individuals and help them develop a holistic approach to living based on universal values and principles in order to create personal wholeness and build a life-sustaining community for all."  The unique aspect of SWEEP is its focus on helping women recognize and strengthen their inner spiritual resources, thus increasing their resilience and ability to make life-enhancing choices in the midst of transition and crisis such as domestic violence, homelessness, or becoming pregnant as a young teen.

The program's overarching goal is to give women a heart-centered, empowering opportunity from which they can re-frame their current circumstances and their vision for their life. Specifically, women who participate in a SWEEP group will:

1. develop a deeper sense of "Self" by connecting, trusting and developing inner spiritual qualities such as wisdom and holding a vision for their life;
2. recognize destructive beliefs and behaviors and how to begin to change them;
3. learn how to shift thinking, perceptions, and actions around daily circumstances by tapping into their inner knowing (guidance);
4. promote self-healing by drawing from a 'heart-based space' that heightens self-empowerment and resilience in difficult situations; and
5. learn life-centering practices such as meditation and breath awareness to reduce stress and connect with their true Self.

Whether fleeing an abusive relationship or having lost a home for non-payment of the mortgage, women living in shelters feel a deep loss and confusion at the chaos in their lives.  They are worried about their future and that of their children.  It is natural then, within the safe haven of a shelter where they may receive life-skills training, peer support and referrals for legal help that the women become preoccupied by pre-employment training, job skills training, job placement assistance, and getting help in obtaining permanent housing.  SWEEP can furnish the means of discovery of the Inner Self since it is designed to enable a woman to reflect upon her spiritual strengths.

For further information please contact:
The Stillpoint Foundation
P.O. Box 640
22 Stillpoint Lane
Walpole, NH 03608
(603) 756-9281
www.stillpoint.org