In May of 2006, four women — a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew and a Muslim — met at an interfaith program. Trish Harris, Peggy, Kalis, Gail Katz and Shahina Begg decided to continue meeting and to involve women of different faiths in a community-oriented project.
Our founders felt that communities of faith in Metro Detroit were becoming segregated from each other, but that women, with the capacity for empathy and connecting spiritually, could take action towards change.
At the Women’s Interfaith Build with Habitat for Humanity on August 20, 2006, 55 Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Baha’i women came together to help construct two homes in Pontiac, beginning the day by sharing prayers for world peace in the different faith traditions. The 55 women, who had never before installed siding, pounded nails, measured boards, handled power tools or climbed up ladders, were amazed at how easy this manual labor turned out to be.
At lunchtime they shared personal information, learned what they all had in common, and developed ideas for ways women of different faiths and cultures in Metro Detroit could build bridges of understanding. After the second work session, they ended the day by linking arms for a moment of sile
WISDOM was launched! In May, 2007, we officially became a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation with women from eight different religions on the board of directors.
