LEWISTON — Sophia’s House, at Blake and Walnut streets, will celebrate its opening Friday, Dec. 13.
A project of The Center for Wisdom’s Women, Sophia’s House will be a residential community for female survivors of trafficking/exploitation, prison and addiction, based on the model of Thistle Farms in Nashville, Tenn. A project of the Daughters of Wisdom — a religious order of nuns — the word “Sophia” comes from the Hebrew and Christian translation for the “spirit of God.”
A ribbon cutting ceremony at Sophia’s House will be held at noon Friday, followed by an open house with tours until 3 p.m. A dedication and blessing of the building will follow. Interfaith Chaplain Sarah Shepley and Sarah Gillespie, chaplain at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, will preside over the ceremony. Light refreshments will be served. A panel discussion originally scheduled for Thursday has been posptoned.
No reservations are required for the Friday ribbon-cutting and open house. Those who attend are innvited to bring gifts of hygiene items for the center’s hygiene pantry. Only full sized, unopened containers, please, and only basic items of shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste and feminine pads. Also, the hosts are requesting people attending wear socks and remove shoes, or bring slippers with them, to wear at the open house.
Regina Mullins Greenlee, one of the first graduates of the Thistle Farm program and an instrumental person in its growth and development over the years, will be one of the speakers at the event.
Greenlee will also make a brief presentation at the LA Metro Chamber breakfast Thursday morning, and will be the guest speaker at a Great Falls Forum at the Lewiston Public Library Thursday at noon, discussing her life and journey to healing titled “Finding My Way Home.”
The Center for Wisdom’s Women is a day drop-in center for women. Parking at the site is limited but available on the street or a few blocks away in the Park Street garage. For more information call 207-513-3922 or visit www.wisdomswomen.org
PHOTO: Regina Mullins Greenlee (Submitted photo)
