Wings for Widows

Wings for Widows fills an important and long over-looked need in the recovery of new widows as they transition from heartbreak and loss to a future of hope and possibility. Our proprietary services help relieve financial stress and worry so that the widow can focus on her grief. We provide a critical component in the greiving process.

If nearly 1,000 widows are being created a year in our 8 most populated counties in Minnesota, ranked 21st in the U.S. by population, there are tens of thousands of widows being created each year across the U.S. Our goal is to assist the widows in our local geography, but eventually to assist new widows across the U.S., with a presence in all major markets.

Wings for Widows provides one-on-one counseling to new widows. Every person’s situation is different, so each receives counseling tailored to her circumstances. Generally, we help “organize, prioritize, and stabilize” her financial situation.

Wings for Widows provides a thorough review and assessment of a widow's financial situation encompassing nine areas: financial, legal, tax, health insurance, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, social security, household administration and charitable gifting. We make sure the decedent's estate is settled and asset ownership is transferred.

We provide each widow personalized plans of action – a “roadmap” of essential must-dos and important tasks. Then we empower our widows to use their roadmap, and move from financial uncertainty to financial order. In doing so, she gains clarity, control, and confidence.

For instance, there’s a “benefits clock” that begins ticking the day a spouse dies. We work efficiently to ensure all benefits are filed for, or obtained, by the deadlines. We make sure the necessary bills get paid, work to protect credit scores, and help clients guard against identity theft. We review insurance policies - life, home and auto - and provide recommendations to ensure the widow and her loved ones are protected. We ensure that there is continuity of healthcare coverage, and explain all of the options.

Wings for Widows is most effective working with widows who have lost a spouse in the past 18 months. We “meet widows where they are,” and work at their pace. This means that we may work with one widow a few months after the funeral or we may not work with a widow for twelve or more months after her loss. Some widows are in a hurry to “clear the fog,” and get their financial house in order. Others can’t bear to deal with the list of to-do’s for months after the loss, and it may take a year to get her comfortably back on her financial feet. Our process is accommodative to widows across the spectrum.

To our knowledge, Wings for Widows is the only public charity in the U.S. providing financial counseling to new widows at no cost. We are an all-volunteer organization with a passion and commitment to serve our widow clients and their families. Wings for Widows was founded by an experienced financial advisor who has been working with women in transition for the past decade.

We use our Meet-Assess-Consult-Refer™ process for working with new widows that includes the following;

1. When we are first contacted by a widow we encourage her to take our 3-Minute Assessment. The survey is accessed from the website, or the widow is provided the link. The benefit to the widow is that she is provided a score and corresponding advice; the score will fall into one of three ranges and specific advice is assigned to each score range. The lower her score the more value we may provide.

2. We use a team approach with new widows. Our dedicated team of volunteers are passionate about helping widows through this challenging transition. The first team member is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, knowledgeable about a wide range of financial topics including financial planning principles, education planning, risk management, insurance, investments, tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning. He or she has experience with gathering information, analysis, and developing, communicating, implementing and monitoring recommendations. These qualified professionals must meet rigorous qualifications to earn their designation and must complete ongoing education and ethics training. This team member has estate settlement experience and a giving-heart to ensure you receive the one-on-one counseling widows need. The second team member is an experienced widow - someone who has walked the same painful path. Someone who might have made mistakes early on and desperately wants to help new widows from making similar mistakes. Her role is "case manager" who will meet with new widows initially, attend each working meeting, and then monitor her progress until she's back on her financial feet.

3. Widow data, beginning with their first call through the duration of our services (“engagement”), is captured with our secure, cloud-based CRM. The intake team meets with her initially to ensure fit, outline expectations and answer any questions. Financial Coaches and Widow Advocate are assigned, and an Action Plan is provided for the widow to work through. In between meetings, the team is available to answer questions and help keep her on track. Assistance beyond what we provide can be provided at any time using our Referred Services Directory; these service providers have been highly vetted.

Wings for Widows was founded January 8, 2018 and most of that year was spent developing our proprietary tools and processes. We began working with our first widow in October 2018. This year we are on track to serve 200 widows.

The COVID pandemic caused us to work virtually with widows and allowed us to reach widows across the country. In 2021, our team of volunteers has quadrupled. We were able to help widows all across the country.

This year, our organization partnered with the Foundation for Financial Planning. Fund raising has become a central focus to help us add the employees we need to maintain the excellence of our services.