Recently, NEW Alum and Board Member Petrina Williams graduated with a master’s degree in Social Work from The Catholic University of America. Her inspiring story from homelessness to graduate school was featured by Meagan Fitzgerald of NBC4 Washington. Read more
Our executive director, Wanda Steptoe said something moving last month when the first shoots of determined green emerged in the first flush of spring. “Like the tulips,” she said, “the women of are always pushing forward insistently, bent on showing their beauty and thriving in the world around us.” Read more
The words “remarkable” and “survivor” routinely apply to NEW alumna. Even so, Petrina Williams breaks the mold. Like many NEW alumna, Williams, now a NEW board member, has been through challenges that would fell the rest of us. Yet as she talks about her experiences with matter-of-fact honesty, she radiates happiness and a joy for living. For example, her outgoing voicemail message, where you can practically hear her smile, invites you to “Have a great day—on purpose!” No doubt, it is that upbeat attitude that has carried Williams through life. And what a life it has been. Read more
