Stay Updated on Latest News from the Well Community
Fun and Refreshment at Our 2024 Spring Spiritual Retreat
We’re so grateful to all who donated toward retreat scholarships for our members. Together you gave $8,675! Thanks to you, our members just enjoyed an overnight getaway filled with fun activities, including crafts, a hayride and and bonfire, as well as good food and opportunities for spiritual renewal. Check out the photos below for glimpses of our 2024 spring spiritual retreat.
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Volunteering at the Well: It’s a Blast
It only took one visit and 17-year-old Cyler Deisler was sold. “My mom told me about it, and she got me to go the first time and I really enjoyed it. And we ended up going back and we kept going. I’ve always thought it was a blast.” “It” was helping out at the Well Community’s Thursday Night Life dinner, and his mom, Rebecca Puchkors, […]
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A Well World: A Wider Community of Spiritual Blessing
Serious mental illnesses inflict many losses. These diseases can strip those who suffer from them of hopes, strain relationships and place giant roadblocks in front of opportunities. And among these losses is one that’s especially deep and rarely seen: the loss of spiritual community. As the only faith-based nonprofit in the Dallas area that exclusively serves those living with serious mental health conditions, the Well […]
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Making a Difference Through Prayer
“I just know that prayer changes things,” says Lonnie Bayless. She’s seen it in her own life and in the lives of her family members and friends, and she trusts that it’s true for members of the Well Community as she brings their needs before God. Lonnie is one of numerous people who regularly pray for members of the Well Community. Many are part of […]
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The Power of Prayer in Pursuit of Stability
In spite of persistent misconceptions, those suffering from severe and chronic mental illnesses can’t “pray them away.” But, for many of these individuals, prayer is a practice that undergirds good mental health and supports their pursuit of stability. While it isn’t a treatment for mental illness, it can have great power in the lives of those who deal with these conditions.
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A Well World: A Place Where Love Thrives
It was a truly joyous occasion. A few months ago, two of our members tied the knot in front of many of their friends from the Well Community. And as we rejoiced with them in their marriage, we felt waves of gratitude for the power of love in the lives of people who, many times, struggle to find it. Like all of us, those living […]
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Connection That Counters Despair
Loneliness has made the headlines a lot over the past few years as the pandemic highlighted the impact of isolation on our wellbeing. A 2023 advisory, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” summed up a wealth of evidence that loneliness increases risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death, likening its effects to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. In it, […]
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A Well World: To Love Well
Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away. We’re planning annual activities and looking forward to the fun we always have. In light of that, I’ve been thinking about what it means to love, and even more, to love well. That thought takes me to the greatest lover of all, Jesus, and to his teachings on love. What can we learn from his examples and […]
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A Tiny Part Yields Big Blessings
Twenty-one years. That’s how long Pat and Mike Packard have been supporting the Well Community. “Initially we got involved because our friend’s son, Joel Pulis, was starting it, and he was doing great work. There is much work to be done with mental illness in the Oak Cliff community and, quite frankly, at large—mental illness is everywhere. We knew the Well was a worthwhile organization, […]
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Chronic Compassion
Offering “a hand up rather than a handout” is an often-repeated phrase in the nonprofit world. For many dealing with challenges such as homelessness and poverty, assistance in improving their situation can be an empowering turning point. But most adults living with serious mental illnesses face the reality that their situation may never improve enough for them to fully escape their ongoing suffering.
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