Press Room

Contact Information: Alane Pearce Founder and Executive Director Wings for Women Military Spouse Conference email: wings4women@gmail.com blog: wings4women.wordpress.com phone: 719-337-3432

Colorado Springs, CO — Tickets on sale for annual Military Spouse Conference

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan announced an initiative to recognize the Military Spouse for the many sacrifices made to support the military member. Since then, a few local conferences have popped up here and there to support the military spouse, but there has not been anything like the scope of the Wings for Women Military Spouse Conference initiative that is launching this year.
“As women, we like to go to conferences to get inspired, connected, and filled up spiritually and emotionally to fulfill our roles in society,” says Alane Pearce, founder and executive director of Wings for Women Military Spouse Conferences. “But there has never been a conference geared specifically to the military spouses of all branches and the reserves on the scale that we are rolling out this year.”
Wings for Women is a nonprofit corporation (in organization) that will run military life conferences for military spouses in major military cities across the nation, beginning in Colorado Springs and, as financing allows, expanding to Texas, Virginia, Florida, California, Hawaii, and the central and northern states. The conferences will initially be geared to the female spouses in the military–even moms and fiances of military members. They will also eventually host events for male spouses as well.
“We want to include anyone who wants to get connected, empowered and energized for their role as military family members,” says Pearce. “We also want to keep the ticket prices low so everyone can attend–which is why our sponsors are so important to us.”
Pearce was inspired to design the conferences after the model that Thomas Nelson Publishers uses for Women of Faith–with excellent keynote speakers and music. “But as military spouses we also needed something more,” says Pearce, a military spouse herself. “So we are designing breakout workshops where our military spouses can get practical resources and tools from other military spouses and professionals for challenges specific to military life: moving, deployments, marriage and communication, helping our kids cope, mobile careers, finances and especially post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.”
The two-day conference will take place on May 14-15, 2010 at the Cheyenne Mountain Conference Resort in Colorado Springs. There are a limited number of overnight rooms available for $88 at the Resort. Conference tickets are $29 and are available at WingsConference2010.eventbrite.com. Childcare is provided for a mere $8.50 per child per day. Sponsorships for the event are still available. If you are interested in helping military spouses attend this event, please contact Alane Pearce at Wings4Women@gmail.com or call 719-337-3432.
##

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Strong Coffee: Wings for Women Conference Empowers Military Spouses

Colorado Springs August 20, 2009 – “In a room full of military spouses there is so much potential to do anything.”

Alane Pearce, an Air Force wife and mother, came to this conclusion over a cup of coffee with other military wives. From that cup of coffee the Wings for Women Conference was born.

Wings for Women is an annual conference for military spouses featuring programs to empower and encourage them in their role as the literal home front for their spouses in the armed services.

“Military spouses are strong,” says Pearce, “but it’s getting harder to maintain that strength.” Frequent deployments leave wives as virtual single mothers – or simply alone.  Frequent moves uproot spouses from jobs, child care support networks, friends and family.

Complicating matters further is what happens when their husbands come home.

Personnel who have served in war zones often come home injured, either physically, psychologically, or both. At best, these homecomings disrupt routines and other structures for coping that have been in place for months, sometimes a year.

Thus was Pearce compelled – some may even say “called” — to marshal the resources necessary to address all these issues and more at the Wings for Women Conference.

The first Wings for Women Conference was held in April 2009 in Colorado Springs. The success of the event inspired Pearce to broaden her scope.

“I want to take Wings for Women to all the major military towns,” says Pearce. “Wherever there’s a base, there are people who need our support. That Wings for Women is put together by military spouses for military spouses makes it great, but support from the community would make it even more effective.”

The spring 2010 Wings for Women conference in Colorado Springs will feature job and transitioning advice from professional career coach Kimberly Hessler, along with One Hope Ministry’s Marshele Waddell, local author of Hope for the Home Front. Workshop and breakout sessions will cover Surviving Deployment, Marriage and Communication, Helping Our Kids and even PTSD and TBI Issues.

For more information on attending this event or becoming a sponsor, please visit the Wings for Women blog at www.wings4women.wordpress.com or call Alane Pearce at 719-337-3432.

Advertisement