Ascending Women of Faith, Inc Colored Women's Resource Centers
Establishing and Sustaining a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice
AWF Colored Women's Resource Centers
Organizational Purpose & Legal Role
Ascending Women of Faith, Inc. (AWF) is a mission-driven organization established to advance the social welfare, civic engagement, and economic stability of women, families, and communities. Originally organized as a 501(c)(3), AWF transitioned to a 501(c)(4) to more effectively engage in policy education, systems advocacy, and legislative awareness impacting underserved populations.
AWF serves as the governing, convening, and advocacy entity—responsible for strategy, partnerships, public education, and alignment across programs and initiatives. Through this structure, AWF ensures that community needs are translated into informed action, responsible advocacy, and sustainable systems change.
AWF exists to affect conditions—not simply respond to them.
The Operational Expression of the Mission
The Colored Women’s Resource Center (CWRC) is the practical, service-oriented expression of AWF’s mission. While not yet a single, permanent physical facility, CWRC functions as a community-based hub model—bringing together resources, partners, and services wherever women and families need them.
The Center’s design is rooted in an integrated service approach first articulated in community resource center models developed in faith-based and neighborhood settings. CWRC coordinates information, referral, prevention, stabilization, and capacity-building services across multiple life domains, including:
•Family stabilization and emergency intervention
•Workforce and economic development
•Health education and navigation
•Youth, elder, and caregiver support
•Reentry, housing, and utility advocacy
•Community-based education and technology access
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Our Directives
DIRECTIVE I
WOMEN & FAMILIES
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Prioritize visibility, dignity, and stability for women and families navigating social and economic inequity.
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We recognize lived experience as a valid source of knowledge and design responses that are culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and rooted in community reality.
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*This directive governs our
Family Resource and Community initiatives.
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DIRECTIVE II
ECONOMIC & CIVIC POWER
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Support pathways to economic stability, leadership, and informed civic participation.
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AWF advances economic empowerment and social justice by equipping women with the tools, knowledge, and access needed to participate fully in the workforce, civic life, and decision-making spaces.
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* This directive governs our
Economic Empowerment and Social Justice work.
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DIRECTIVE III
INFORM, ENGAGE & ADVOCATE RESPONSIBLY
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​Through platforms such as At the Well and WMSI, we encourage critical thinking, respectful dialogue, and responsible engagement on issues affecting women, families, and communities.
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*This directive governs our
educational, discussion, and policy-awareness efforts.
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