At Woman’s Co-op, we don’t just teach a class on resiliency—we live it, breathe it, and build it into everything we do. For the women and families we serve, resiliency isn’t a buzzword. It’s a lifeline. Many of our members have grown up in generational poverty, where struggle is inherited and opportunity is rare. Add to that the weight of trauma—abuse, neglect, addiction, violence, or simply being overlooked—and it’s no wonder that survival becomes the default. But survival isn’t enough. We believe in the right to heal, to grow, and to thrive. Resiliency, for our community, is the radical act of standing up again—again and again—and deciding that pain doesn’t get the last word. It’s what fuels change: in a mindset, in a family, in a future.
In the essays that follow, you’ll hear directly from some of the women in our program. They’ve faced things most people never have to. Yet here they are—redefining strength, choosing hope, and claiming their voice.
This is what resiliency looks like.
Topic Resiliency: the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. The 7-C’s of resilience, competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control. As long as I could remember, even as a child, I always had resilience in me. When I was just 3 years old I was taken away from my biological mother, placed in a foster care home, sooner rather than later I was adopted at the age of 4. Along with 3 other kids. My new life, so to speak. The foster mother had 3 biological boys way older than us adopted kids. Long story short they was sexually molesting all 3 adopted kids. Treated us badly, food deprived. Leaving me pregnant at the age of 13. Just like that I was living a new life of motherhood at such a young age. I was a child myself. Having resilience in me I made it through such hard times, making the best of these horrible nightmares! Motherhood away from my mother was such a lost feeling. God has sent me these lessons in life, because he know I can overcome these things that has happened. This new sobriety journey I will continue to be consistent even when things seem difficult to keep going. I will remember who the old me was and how the new me I will become not just for me but for my children.
Resilience is the ability to grow after you been knocked down to the ground. It’s the ability to adjust to changes. its to recover and overcome obstacles. You have to face challenges. Staying calm and focused during the hard times. Keep continuing to try even after you fail. I learned that my resilience started when I had my 2nd child. It was hard for me. I had little to no help. But I didn’t give up even when it came to hard times. I always made sure that my babies good and I put myself last as long as they was happy. I had jobs and I lost jobs. That made me stronger to know that if I lose one I know Ima get another one sooner than later. As I got older I had 2 more children and it didn’t get easier, I still went through tough times, but I always managed to bounce back and adjust to the changes. So staying calm and focused through rough times helps a lot. Keep pushing yourself after you fail is also good. Tell yourself to never give up! Overcome everything your thought you couldn’t do, feels good. I can relate to this topic a lot cause I been through mostly all. One thing I never did was stop focusing and always kept pushing myself to do better than what I did the last time. Everything will fall into order as long as you do not give up on yourself. Stay true to yourself. I had somewhat of a challenging life experience but I didn’t let nothing stop me from keep picking myself back up and keep going forward.