The Rural We: Julie Bishop
Julie Bishop is founder and president of Walnut Woods, an organization that helps families at risk.
Great Barrington resident Julie Bishop is the author of “Thrive Anyway: Discover How You Can Heal Your Broken Heart,” a bestselling title that was inspired about her own journey from an unhealthy marriage to a new, successful life.. She worked as an interior designer for much of her career, but is now a trained life coach and holistic practitioner of massage and other healing modalities. Bishop's latest endeavor is Walnut Woods, a nonprofit organization created to help survivors of domestic abuse. The organization is holding a virtual fundraising event and sky lantern launch on June 20.
I’m from central New York, but ended up in the Berkshires 15 years ago, after my second child was born. After my divorce, I wrote Thrive Anyway, which was based on Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief. It‘s not just for healing after divorce, it’s for any breakup, like a business partnership. I wrote it in 2015 but it’s still selling every month.
Walnut Woods was created last year to support people that have survived domestic abuse. We’re hoping to be the first holistic center for healing specific to survivors of abuse in New England. One in three women experience domestic abuse, and that’s only getting more intense with COVID because people are really stuck at home. It’s such a difficult road when one gets the courage to leave an abusive relationship. We’ve worked with other local organizations such as Construct and the Elizabeth Freeman Center and we’re hoping to support the creation and delivery of regenerative healing and growth programs. We’re doing them online now, but a housing component is part of our mission, so we can provide an option for transitional housing
We’re also offering training in career development and entrepreneurial skills. We’ve had a lot of people in the community willing to donate and contribute their time and talent to teach the classes.
Last year the Walnut Woods board and I came up with an annual event idea to send up lanterns with the idea of shedding light on hope. We were planning to have an outdoor event with bands and food trucks to bring the community together. Then the pandemic hit, and we weren’t going to do any event at all, but then we decided we could do it virtually. We will send the lanterns to people who donate $25 and they can send them from their homes.
The date of the event, June 20, is also significant because it’s the solstice, which has to do with light. Before we send up the lanterns, we will be interviewing survivors who will talk about their struggles and their coming into the light.
In all the things I do, I want to pave the way to peace and to spread the word of hope. I think our community needs a little bit of hope right now. Our event will show that we can connect with one another even if we can’t be physically together.
