Thank you for standing with us to lift up our five decades of service to the St. Louis community. Throughout 2026, we’ve reflected, learned, and celebrated with a full calendar of commemorative events. So many organizations and people have joined us in marking this milestone and shining a light on our legacy. We appreciate everyone who supported the 19th annual Together Brunch, the Community Partners Birthday Party, the Trauma Symposium for professionals in the field, and the new Lotus Lounge, our virtual book club. The year culminated in our 50th Anniversary Lotus Gala in October. View event photos here. (password safe)
A special shout out goes to all of our friends of the mission named below. First, we want to pay respect to the women who formed our organization in 1976. When they began as the Women’s Self Help Center, they were often criticized, ridiculed, and forced by the nature of the work to put themselves in harm’s way. They were trailblazers, taking risks and making sacrifices that went far beyond the norm for starting a nonprofit. We honor their heart and vision.
Please take a moment to remember with us.
Wendy Auslander | Sandy Baker | Louise Bauschard | Rebecca Berkowitz | Kathy Birk | Sr. Mary Louis Denny | Sharon Divine | Chris Dougher | Mae Hia | Lucia Miller | Heather Needleman | Nathalie Pettus | Geri Redden | Sharon Robinson | Susan Schiff | Roz Sherman Voellinger | Sr. Ginny Williams
We Appreciate Our 50th Anniversary Partners
Platinum
- The Garrison Family
- Noémi Neidorff and Peter Neidorff
Impact Partners
- Bunge
- Purina Purple Leash Project
- UB Greensfelder
Gold
- Midwest Elevator
- Rise&Run4Women
Silver
- Renaissance Financial
- The Wagner Law Group
Bronze
- Ameren
- Compass Realty
- Delmar Mortgage
- Husch Blackwell
- The Lawrence Group
- Midwest BankCentre
- Parkside Financial
- St. Louis DBT
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Karen J. Aroesty
- Berges Family Foundation
- Collins Peoples Family
- Kim & Tim Eberlein
- Eric & Julie Hahn
- Matt Hoffman & Elise Miller Hoffman
- Susan Kidder & Val Harris
- Brady McAninch & Abby Cohen
- Patrick Murdock
- Rose-Lynn Sokol
- Dr. Eleatha Surratt
- Mark Utterback
Media Partners
- KSDK News Channel 5
- Novella
- St. Louis Public Radio
- Community Radio STL
50th Gala Celebrity Emcee: KSDK News Channel 5’s Landon Burke
Gala Steering Committee
Co-chairs: Lauren C. Collins and Katie Flaschar
Ilene Bloom-Ellis | Dannae Delano | Breana Garbiel | Rachel Glass | Matt Hoffman | Dawn Johnson | Brady McAninch | Tracy McCreery | Roz Sherman Voellinger
50th Friends
- Carrollton Bank
- Clark-Fox Family Foundation
- Commerce Bancshares Foundation
- Patershuk Partners
Friends In-Kind for Our 50th Year
- Build-a-Bear
- Cinema St. Louis
- GrowGlowCo
- The Novel Neighbor
- Novella
- Sugarwitch
We have one final event, listed below.
The Lotus Lounge
A virtual book club of meaningful, mission-centered conversations. Final book club gathering in December.
Read more…